Hi {{ subscriber.first_name | default: "there" }}, Our team went bowling over the week. Instead of spelling out who won, I'd like to draw your attention to the scores below 😎 (Kindly also take note of where Simi placed in the rankings :D) If you're in Lagos and looking to challenge me to a game of bowling, let me know ;) Finally, a few members of the Paystack team are in Singapore this week for the Singapore Fintech Festival! If you're in town, kindly seek out the Paystack booth and say hello to my colleagues Naomi, Yinka, and Abdulrahman!
Bolaji + Simi
Product Specialists, Paystack
Payments
Nigeria
Visa to acquire a 20% stake in Interswitch, valuing it at $1 billion. Visa is paying $200m for a 20% stake in Nigerian payments giant Interswitch, ahead of a potential London IPO next year. Nairametrics
Nigeria
OPay acquires Central Bank of Nigeria's approval for international money transfer services. OPay, a financial services platform, has been given approval by the Central Bank of Nigeria to commence international money transfer service in Nigeria. The approval would enable OPay facilitate B2B, B2P, and P2P remittance services into Nigeria. Business Day
Nigeria
Nigerian government discontinues cash payments in NIPOST offices. The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim, has ordered the discontinuation of cash payments in the offices of the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST) across the country. Tech Economy
South Africa
South African fintech startup Envisionit e-Pay rebrands to Truzo. South African online escrow payments startup Envisionit e-Pay has rebranded to Truzo as it prepares for global expansion. Founded in 2017, Truzo operates an online escrow payment service that aims to build trust amongst users when transacting online. Disrupt Africa
Nigeria
MTN boost CBN’s financial Inclusion target with addition of 500,000 mobile agents. The Central Bank of Nigeria financial inclusion strategy has received a major boost with the addition of 500,000 agents by MTN’s subsidiary, Y’ellow Digital Financial Services (YDFS). The agents were added through the MoMo agency banking platform. Financial Technology Africa
Global
Visa launches a new security suite for fraud prevention. Visa has unveiled a suite of new security services to detect fraud threats targeting banks and merchants. Among the free tools are Visa Vital Signs, which actively monitors transactions and alerts financial institutions of potentially fraudulent activity at ATMs. Techmoran
Share a tip
Do you have an announcement, event, or job posting you'd like to share, or have you come across an interesting bit of African fintech news recently?Hit reply and let me know! I might be able to include it in next week's newsletter.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to earn N1.5Bn (~$4.2 million) monthly from stamp duty charge on POS transactions. CBN is to earn at least N1.5 billion monthly from the implementation of NGN 50 stamp duty charges on transactions carried out via Point of Sales (PoS) terminals. This is based on data released by the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), which showed that the monthly average volume of POS transactions in the country stood at 31 million. Nigerian Communications Week
Nigeria
Newly licensed Globus Bank launches operations in Nigeria. Globus Bank Limited, a new bank licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, has announced the launch of its operations in Nigeria. Nigerian Communications Week
Regulation
Kenya
Kenya passes data protection law for technology investments. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta approved a data protection law that complies with European Union legal standards as it looks to bolster investment in its information technology sector. The new law sets out restrictions on how confidential data obtained by firms and government entities can be stored and shared. Business Report
