This archive report was first published on 30 June 2021.
June 30, 2021 - In a strategic move to enhance financial inclusion across Africa, Carbon, a leading pan-African fintech company, has announced a five-year partnership with Visa, the world leader in digital payments.
The partnership will enable Carbon to offer both digital and physical issuance of Visa cards to its customers, marking a significant milestone in the company's journey from a digital lending platform to a full-fledged digital bank.
Carbon will launch Visa debit cards in the third quarter of 2021, leveraging Visa's payment functionalities to deploy an instant issuance process in three key markets: Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya.
As part of the collaboration, Visa will provide financial support to Carbon over the five-year partnership period, which will be used to provide implementation and marketing support to drive further growth and adoption of Visa's payment solutions.
“We want more customers to enjoy some of our popular products like Carbon Zero through their Carbon card, and key to achieving this is our partnership with a leading payments and fintech-friendly company like Visa,” said Chijioke Dozie, CEO/Co-founder of Carbon.
With the arrival of debit cards, Carbon is building on its fast-growing user base of over 650,000 customers and a strong 2020 fiscal year, which saw the company process ₦96.54 billion (~$241.35 million) in payments and ₦25.21 billion (~$63 million) in loan disbursements.
“The rapid pace of technology innovation has driven a powerful shift in business and consumer expectations in finance,” said Kemi Okusanya, Vice President, Visa West Africa. “Visa is a natural partner for fintechs like Carbon, providing them with new ways to reach their customers through Visa's vast network and global scale.”
