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Issue 35
Dec 09 - Dec 16, 2019

Hi there,

We'll be going on a short break to refuel for the new year, so the next issue of the Decode Fintech newsletter will be out on Jan 8, 2020. We appreciate you for supporting us since we launched the Decode Fintech Newsletter in February, we're also gearing up for a more exciting 2020!
Simi + Tochukwu
Product Specialists, Paystack
Payments
NigeriaNigeria launches the fintech industry innovation sandbox. Financial Services Initiative (FSI), a non-profit organisation backed by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), launched the first fintech industry innovation sandbox in Nigeria. It is a platform where fintech entrants can test their innovative ideas, using the application programming interfaces (APIs) of existing companies. Techpoint Africa
EDITOR'S NOTE


AfricaVisa partners with MFS Africa to expand digital payments across Africa. MFS Africa, an African digital payments company, and Visa announced a partnership that connects mobile money users on the MFS platform, to a Visa virtual card which they can use for remittances and e-commerce transactions. MFS Africa will also integrate Visa Direct, Visa’s real-time push payments solution, to help these customers send and receive money and remittances directly through their mobile money wallets. Tearsheet
North AfricaPAYFORT and DHL Express expand payment solutions in North Africa. The UAE-based payments company, PAYFORT, announced a new partnership with DHL Express, an international courier service. The partnership will allow DHL Express customers across North Africa, pay online for shipments in their local currencies via debit and credit cards. IT News Africa
NigeriaNigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) continues to accept cash payments in spite of the government’s order. NIPOST has continued to accept cash transactions from customers in post offices across the nation, in spite of the Federal Government of Nigeria's directive to stop. Nairametrics
EDITOR'S NOTE

Remember that we reported in Issue 30, that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim, ordered that cash payments should be discontinued in NIPOST offices across the country.
GlobalMastercard pilots digital identity technology. Mastercard has teamed up with Deakon University in Australia, to pilot a digital identity verification process for student registration and exams. The digital identity program is designed to instantly and securely authenticate a person's identity without the need for physical documentation. Financial Technology Africa
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Conversations
TwitterHow does USSD service work while roaming? Emmanuel Chebukati (@echebukati) sparked a discussion on how USSD works when customers use the roaming services, and the cost implications of USSD sessions to the telcos with this twitter post
TwitterBuyCoins Africa launches NGNT. BuyCoins co-founder, Timi Ajiboye(@timigod) announced the launch of the NGNT, an ERC-20 stablecoin in this twitter thread.
EDITOR'S NOTE

ERC-20 is an official protocol for proposing improvements to the Ethereum (ETH) network. ERC stands for Ethereum Request for Comment, and 20 is the proposal identifier. This is a common standard for creating tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. 
Regulation
NigeriaWhat you need to know about the new BVN 2.0. Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bankers’ Committee has started the Bank Verification Number (BVN) classification (BVN 2.0) that improves access to financial services, for people in rural communities. Abiola Odutola of Nairametrics broke down everything we need to know about the new directive in this article. Nairametrics
Cryptocurrency
AfricaChipper Cash raised $6M for Southern Africa expansion. African cross-border fintech startup, Chipper Cash, has raised a $6 million seed round led by Deciens Capital. Chipper Cash will use the capital to grow their team, and expand to new geographic areas. TechCrunch
KenyaTuraco raises $1.2 million seed funding to scale across Africa. Turaco, a Nairobi-based micro-insurtech startup, has raised $1.2 million in seed funding, to further expand its operations across Africa. TechMoran
GhanaGhanaian startup Bit Sika raises funding from Microtraction. Bit Sika, the Ghanaian startup that uses blockchain technology to help users receive money, has secured an undisclosed sum of funding from VC firm Microtraction, to accelerate their growth. This is the second round of investment taken on by Bit Sika in 2019. The startup was one of four African blockchain startups that participated in the incubation programme organised by the global cryptocurrency exchange, Binance. Disrupt Africa
Jobs
Branch International
Compliance ManagerNew
Lagos, Nigeria
Operations Director
Lagos, Nigeria
Yoco
Product Marketing Manager
Cape Town, South Africa
Senior Recruiter
Cape Town, South Africa
SafeBoda
Data Analyst
Kampala, Uganda
Payments Manager
Nairobi, Kenya
Facebook
Client Partner
Johannesburg, South Africa
Peach Payments
Operations Specialist
Cape Town, South Africa
Senior Software Engineer
Cape Town, South Africa
Product Designer
Cape Town, South Africa
Carbon (formerly Paylater)
Senior Scrum Master
Lagos, Nigeria
Data Scientist
Lagos, Nigeria
Kuda Bank
QA Engineer
Lagos, Nigeria
Visa
Marketing Manager
Lagos, Nigeria
Solutions Delivery Manager
Johannesburg, South Africa
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