Dive Brief:
- Consumers in Africa's most populous nation will now be able to pay with American Express credit cards at some online merchants because of a collaboration between the credit card giant and Nigerian payments company Flutterwave.
- Flutterwave, a rising fintech company that processes online payments and has a regional headquarters in San Francisco, noted the partnership with the American credit card giant in a Tuesday website post.
- The company has plans to eventually roll out the service in Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Uganda, Flutterwave said in the post, although it did not provide a timeline.
Dive Insight:
Amex has been steadily increasing its presence in Africa in recent years. The company introduced its branded credit cards in Nigeria for the first time this year and opened an office in Lagos, the country's largest city.
An Amex spokesperson declined to comment beyond a Wednesday post on the card company’s website that said it “recently announced an agreement with Flutterwave.”
The partnership will allow both businesses and consumers to use American Express cards in Nigeria, Flutterwave said in its post.
“We are giving e-commerce merchants in Nigeria the opportunity to reach American Express Card Members around the world,” Briana Wilsey, Amex’s vice president and general manager of global network services, said in Flutterwave’s post. “The collaboration is a win-win because it also increases the number of places where our Card Members can use their Cards in Nigeria.”
Flutterwave, which was founded in 2016, has a valuation of $3 billion, according to a report from the news website Semafor. The company is preparing for an initial public offering, CEO Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola said at Semafor's World Economic Summit in Washington D.C. on April 18.
