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Hi {{ subscriber.first_name | default: "there" }}, Our team is now about 100 people strong, more than half of whom joined in 2019. We spent the weekend bonding and learning more about each other at Inagbe Resort. Bolaji + Simi Product Specialists, Paystack Payments Kenya Cellulant and Tawakal in a €2m partnership deal with PiPiT. PiPiT, an Ireland-based online payment platform, has entered into a €2m partnership deal with Cellulant (Pan-African payments company) and Tawakal (Kenyan money transfer company) to provide a variety of financial services in Kenya. Tech Moran Kenya Kenyan mobile money transactions up by 10.5%. Kenya’s mobile money transactions increased by 10.5% in the first 9 months of 2019 as compared to a similar period in 2018. Customers transacted 3.2 trillion shillings (~$31.7 billion) on their mobile phones in the period ending September, up from $28.7 billion in a corresponding period in 2018. Mobile Money Africa Global Mastercard launches Fintech Express. Mastercard has launched Fintech Express, a service that gives fintechs access to a suite of digital-first products, flexible commercial agreements, and global licensing support to scale globally. They have on-boarded their first partner Rapyd, a fintech service platform who has recently raised $100 million in funding. Fintechnews.sg Global Facebook launches Facebook Pay. Facebook has launched Facebook Pay, a consolidated payments service that works across its main apps: Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Facebook said the service would allow users to send money or make a payment with security options such as PIN or biometrics on their smartphones. Reuters Global Google to offer checking accounts in partnership with banks starting next year. Google is gearing up to offer checking accounts to consumers, starting as early as next year. The company is calling the project Cache, and it’ll partner with banks and credit unions to offer the checking accounts, with the banks handling all financial and compliance activities related to the accounts. TechCrunch Conversations Twitter Is airtime the cryptocurrency token for Africa’s emerging consumers? Michael Kimani (@pesa_africa) and Wiza J. (@wizaj) discuss in this Twitter conversation. Banking & Finance Nigeria Nigerian bank worker unions threaten indefinite nationwide strike from January 2020. The Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) and its counterpart, the National Union of Banks Insurance and Financial Institutions (NUBIFIE), have threatened to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike from January 2, 2020 over claims that their employers have failed to review a Collective Bargaining Agreement. Independent.ng Africa Orange gets a banking licence to operate in Francophone West Africa. French telecom company Orange has announced that it has obtained a banking licence from the Central Bank of West African States to operate a savings and loan service in French-speaking West African countries. TechLoy Regulation Zimbabwe Zimbabwe's 2% transactional tax stays. Zimbabwe will continue collecting the 2% transactional tax which it introduced in October last year despite continued disapproval from the public. While unveiling the 2020 national budget in the National Assembly, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said while the intermediated electronic money transfer tax will stay, the minimum threshold had been increased from $20 to $100. Mobile Money Africa Fundraising Nigeria PalmPay launches in Nigeria on $40M round led by China’s Transsion. PalmPay has launched in Nigeria after raising a $40 million seed round led by Chinese mobile-phone maker Transsion. As part of the investment, PalmPay entered a strategic partnership with mobile brands Tecno, Infinix, and Itel that includes pre-installation of the Palmpay app on 20 million phones in 2020. TechCrunch Nigeria Opera's fintech startup OPay raises $120M from Chinese investors. Nigeria fintech startup OPay has raised a $120 million Series B round backed by Chinese investors. Located in Lagos and founded by consumer internet company Opera, OPay will use the funds to scale in Nigeria and expand its payments product to Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. TechCrunch Funding Opportunity LABS by ARM 2.0 Asset and Resource Management (ARM) and Ventures Platform have launched Labs by ARM 2.0, a fintech-focused accelerator program designed to support the best early-stage companies solving the hardest problems in the financial industry.
