Businesses that want to expand into Africa have one problem: the ability to receive online card payments using bank cards in places like Nigeria. For this reason the Flutterwave x Worldpay partnership will be a great benefit to the e-commerce sector.
Worldpay is a merchant services and payment processing provider offering a payment hatch for online transactions. It accepts payments via various methods including credit/debit cards and eWallets.
When an e-commerce business has to expand to Nigeria, setting up payments for their customers becomes a difficult task. It is comparatively easier for big companies to find a local partner that will plug them into Nigeria’s e-payment network. But it is a huge hassle trying to develop this payment method in small businesses.
This is where cross-continental partnerships between payment companies, like the one Flutterwave has with Fidelity National Information Services (FIS), plays a crucial role. The partnership between Flutterwave and Worldpay was first announced in January 2020 when FIS participated in Flutterwave’ $35 Million Series B round.
Flutterwave also graduated from the FIS fintech accelerator program in 2016.
A major strategic goal of that was to advance the position the Nigerian fintech startup as the partner of choice for companies, especially those offering financial services, looking to break into Africa.
“With this partnership, any Worldpay merchant in Europe or the U.S. can accept any African payment. If someone goes to pay Netflix with an African card, it just works,” Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola said at the time.
Flutterwave provides a single entry point into Africa for Worldpay users. What this means is that global businesses that use Worldpay’s services can now accept payments from their customers in Africa.
At the moment, Flutterwave’s integration with Worldpay will only be available in Nigeria and South Africa, two of the biggest economies on the continent. E-commerce through mobile phones is growing in both countries; by 2024, the sector is projected to be valued at $31 billion in Nigeria and $9 billion in South Africa, according to the 2021 Global Payments Report by FIS.
More African countries could be added to the network over time, depending on the development of e-commerce.
The big picture for Flutterwave is that the FIS, has the capacity to expand Worldpay around the world. This week, FIS announced that it now has a license to make Worldpay available in Malaysia.
