African FinTech Carbon has entered a five-year strategic alliance with Visa to provide digital and physical issuance of Visa cards to its customers on the continent.
Founded in 2012, Carbon is a Nigerian company that provides individuals with access to credit, simple payments solutions, high-yield investment opportunities and easy-to-use tools for personal financial management.
The company intends to launch the Visa debit cards in the third quarter of this year, and claims it will deploy an instant issuance process in the three markets of Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana.
The collaboration between the two firms will include financial backing from Visa that will be spread over the five-year period.
According to Carbon, the funds will be used to provide implementation and marketing support to help drive further growth and adoption of Visa’s payment offerings across Carbon’s products.
Carbon is witnessing a fast-growing user base of over 650,000 customers following a strong fiscal 2020.
The company also highlighted that its partnership with Visa will go a long way in consolidating its status as a ‘first-rate digital bank’.
Carbon CEO and co-founder Chijioke Dozie said, “Carbon is focused on delivering an unparalleled banking experience that is both safe and reliable across all touchpoints. 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.”
Visa president of West Africa Kemi Okusanya said, “The rapid pace of technology innovation has driven a powerful shift in business and consumer expectations in finance. Whether it is changing the way people invest, manage money, receive loans, or send real-time payments to friends and family, Visa is a natural partner for FinTechs including Carbon, providing them with new ways to reach their customers through Visa’s vast network and global scale.”
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