The African continent has many huge potentials for economic growth and development that could enable it to compete with Asia and Western nations. However, one of the major challenges hindering its progress is the lack of efficient and affordable cross-border payment solutions.
According to The World Bankthe average cost of sending money to Africa is 8.9%which is the highest among all regions in the world.
In addition, many African countries have strict currency controls, complex regulatory frameworks and low rates of financial inclusion that make cross-border payments even more difficult and costly.
There are many opportunities for remittances and cross-border payments in Africa. According to a McKinsey report, the electronic payments industry in Africa was created about $24 billion in revenue in 2020, in domestic and cross-border payments. Domestic e-payments revenue of $15 billion came from 47 billion individual transactions totaling just over $800 billion of transaction values.
There are some innovative companies currently working to solve the problem of cross-border payments for Africans. One of them is Crusta leading fintech company offering fast, secure and low-cost cross-border payments for businesses and individuals in Africa.
Kora: The Pan-African Payment Infrastructure for Businesses
Founded in 2017, Kora’s mission is to create a safe, secure and seamless payment engine that will enable local merchants, as well as global merchants, to expand across Africa. The company’s solutions play a central role for businesses that want to grow and expand into different markets in Africa, especially Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya.
Kora makes digital payments easy for business owners by prioritizing convenience, flexibility and affordability.
Leveraging its presence in multiple jurisdictions, Kora is able to hack multi-currency support for its merchants. For example, due to the presence of Kenya and GhanaKora can enable a Kenyan business owner to receive payments in Kenyan Shillings from customers in Ghana through a local payment channel such as mobile money, while simultaneously providing the same payment collection service to a Ghanaian business owner who has customers in Kenya.
The company aims to help SMEs, enterprises and start-ups in Africa grow their businesses, expand their customer base and increase their revenue by facilitating easy and convenient cross-border payments. Kora also supports gaming and betting, hospitality, e-commerce, travel and other sectors that require cross-border payments.
Kora provides payment services to many companies and entities including MyXalary in Nigeria helping with her payroll as well as the logistics company GIGL enabling their customers to fund their online wallets using Kora’s payment infrastructure.
What sets Kora apart from other payment providers?
Crust has many features that make it stand out from other cross-border payment providers in Africa. Some of them are:
Security: Kora is PCI DSS compliant, ISO 27001 & ISO 22301 certified which means it complies with the latest global industry standards and safety regulations. This translates into safe and secure transactions for businesses using Kora to accept payments from their customers.
Ease: With features like Pay-In, Kora enables businesses to create flexible payment experiences like βCheckoutβ that helps clients integrate single or recurring payment options for their customers.
Businesses can also use the βPayment Linksβ to allow their customers to make payments through a simple URL link without bothering to create a website.
Customer service: Kora provides 24/7 customer support via phone, email, chat and social media.
By offering fast, secure and low-cost cross-border payments, Kora helps SMEs, enterprises and start-ups in Africa access global markets and opportunities and ultimately contribute to the continent’s economic growth and development.