Fasten your Seatbelt: African Airlines' Payment Revolution Takes off.
Plus 2 other Fintech Product Launches in Africa | Vol 39| Sept 6th 2023
😰..Sorry, this week’s edition is late. Today we explore the world of Airline travel and how money moves in that space.
but 1st ⛔…… If you are tired of Googling stuff and you are looking to learn real Fintech in a structured way, we have something for you.
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So back to the gist of the day.
Last week IATA launched its payment service - EasyPay in 5 African countries; Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Gabon, and Mauritius.
But who is IATA and why is this interesting?
IATA - The International Air Transport Association is an organization that represents the airline industry. They maintain airline cooperation to ensure safe and reliable air transportation and provide standards for commercial air travel.
On the surface they look like a glorified NURTW ( from Nigeria) or TAWU ( from Kenya), so this might just be another Embedded Finance partnership right?🤔
WRONG!🙅🏽♀️… and you’ll be shocked just like I was.
IATA.. is actually an undercover International Payment Scheme and sit tight and let me prove this to you.
Just check out this formation⚔️.. everything is here for a fully functional Financial infrastructure.👏🏽👏🏽
Phew.. let’s take a moment to recover, but did you see the amount they processed in 2022?? Now we have set the stage, let’s discuss this system they’ve launched in 5 African countries.
What is EasyPay
IATA EasyPay is a closed-loop and proprietary payment system, it consists of an e-wallet solution for agents to issue tickets via the BSP( explained in the infographic above).
Check this out - According to their website EasyPay is cheaper for airlines than credit card transactions and more importantly, they get settled in 48 to 96 hours worldwide.
This is a mega Fintech.
Now to Africa- this isn’t the IATA EasyPay’s 1st rodeo in Africa. They are present already in 22 African countries. Hmm🤔, makes you wonder why Air travel payments are still an uphill task right?
But let’s look at this data from Nigeria to give an idea of how huge the air travel opportunity is in Africa.
Now you’ll understand why Flutterwave partnered with them and integrated their system into the IATA Financial Gateway (IFG). And why other Fintechs should get in on this too!
Learned something new? 😀…I sure did!
Who else made waves with their Fintech Product in Africa?
🟢All Lights are Green for Paystack in Kenya
Last week Paystack moved from the beta version to a fully open gateway for businesses and customers in Kenya.
They received a license late last year from the CBK enabling them to process payments. With this move, they’ve joined the likes of PesaPal and JamboPay to compete for a chunk of the 4.9 billion Fintech industry in Kenya.
🔌🛣️ MoMo’s ambition to connect Africa
Still maintaining its dominant streak, MoMo PSB is tackling the intra-Africa Payments issue. They’ve teamed up with a licensed IMTO, Saana Capital LLC facilitate seamless inbound and outbound transfers across Africa.
With this partnership, MoMo PSB customers will be able to send and receive money from various African countries directly using their MoMo accounts, eliminating the need for Forex or Dom accounts. That is such a huge deal!
The Weekly Roundup
Other interesting things happened in the African Fintech scene last week apart from Product Launches; we had another African Fintech in the Acquisition ring: Asaak from Uganda, acquiring Flexclub in Mexico.
Insurtech took the lead on the disclosed Funding scene with LeaseSurance raising $161k seed. And Eganow and Glamera getting licenses in various markets to operate.
Catch up on 7 highlights we think you shouldn’t miss from last week’s news. Take a look 👇🏽.
And that is all for this week’s newsletter. If you found this informative, please subscribe, comment, and share in your Fintech circle. Have an awesome week!