Frontier Fintech GPS# 37 - June 25th 2025
CBK increases clearing hours for RTGS, Chpter partners with Flutterwave, Flutterwave secures Cameroon PSP license and many other stories that matter.
Illustration by Mary Mogoi
Hi All, Welcome to the 37th edition of Frontier Fintech GPS where I provide key insights on the top global Fintech news items that matter to you. This newsletter will be arriving in your inboxes every Wednesday morning. The idea behind Frontier Fintech GPS is to help you navigate the endless stream of Fintech news and get smart about global Fintech as it applies to Africa. To those who are yet to subscribe, hit the subscribe button below and share with your colleagues and friends. 🚀
🚨🚨 New Sponsor Kit Just Released 🚨🚨
Want to reach Africa’s top fintech decision-makers? We’ve updated our offering with premium content, executive visibility, and strategic advisory options.
Reach out at samora@frontierfintech.io or click below to explore how we can work together.
🇰🇪 | Central Bank of Kenya Extends Real-Time Bank Transfer Hours
The Central Bank of Kenya will extend the operating hours of the Kenya Electronic Payment and Settlement System, the country’s Real-Time Gross Settlement system, from 8:30 AM–4:30 PM to 7:00 AM–7:00 PM on business days, effective July 1, 2025. The change aims to enhance efficiency and flexibility for large-value, time-sensitive transactions, supporting businesses, financial institutions, and government agencies. It aligns with Kenya’s National Payments Strategy 2022–2025 to modernize the financial system and promote a 24/7 digital economy. The extended hours are expected to improve cash flow management, reduce settlement risks, and enhance Kenya’s competitiveness as a regional financial hub.
To put this move in context, it’s an increase of four hours to the total clearing and settlement time. This does not necessarily correspond to a 24 hour economy. My reading of the situation is slightly different. Kenya has been gearing up for an instant payment system. With the new payment system, participants will still be expected to settle with each other through RTGS and the extra anticipated volumes will do well with a few additional hours of settlement times. The way these major projects work is that there are specific milestones towards launching a full scale system, and moving to a 12 hour settlement system could be part of the milestones.
🌍 | Chpter expands into 11 more African countries via Flutterwave
Chpter, a Kenyan social commerce startup, has expanded into 11 new African markets—Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Zambia—through a partnership with fintech company Flutterwave, building on its presence in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. The deal enables Chpter’s merchants to accept payments via mobile money, cards, and bank transfers in local currencies or USD, with Flutterwave handling transaction processing. This expansion supports Chpter’s AI-first strategy, incorporating AI-powered sales and customer service agents. The move aligns with the growing trend of WhatsApp-based commerce, with 60% of Chpter’s merchant traffic coming from chat apps. The partnership enhances financial inclusion and streamlines digital transactions for businesses across 14 African countries.
This is an interesting partnership. Whilst Chpter got its start in Kenya where direct integrations to M-Pesa makes sense, transitioning to a Pan-African platform will require such a partnership. Keen to see how this plays out because I’m a firm believer in building platforms on top of Whatsapp because you meet people where they are.
🇨🇲 | Flutterwave secures Payment Service Provider licence in Cameroon, deepening pan‑African growth
Flutterwave, a Nigerian fintech company, has obtained a Payment Service Provider licence from the Central Bank of Central African States, enabling it to launch digital payment services in Cameroon through a partnership with Ecobank. The services allow businesses, from small merchants to large corporations, to accept payments via mobile money, cards, and bank transfers, with features like shareable payment links for platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram. This marks Flutterwave’s 34th African market, strengthening its presence in Francophone Africa. The move supports Cameroon’s growing digital economy, driven by increasing mobile penetration and a tech-savvy population. It enhances financial inclusion, streamlines transactions, and positions Flutterwave as a key player in unifying Africa’s payment infrastructure.
Flutterwave continues to expand its licenses and this adds to the licenses it has obtained earlier from markets like Ghana, Zambia and Egypt. Francophone Africa is emerging as a massive market and a number of people I’ve spoken to in the payments space tell me that this is their fastest growing market. Pay-in and pay-out capabilities will become increasingly valuable specifically as Stablecoin adoption in remittances grows. The Stablecoin sandwich requires solid Pan-African pay-outs and players like Flutterwave can deliver a wide geography and support significant volumes with strong pricing. Having said that, the competition is quite intense with players like Fincra and Onafriq also expanding their geographical footprints.
🇺🇸 | X to soon offer trading and investment services, says CEO
X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced that users will soon be able to invest and trade directly on the platform, as part of plans to transform X into a comprehensive “super app.” The company is also preparing to launch a digital wallet called X Money, in partnership with Visa, which will support peer-to-peer payments and may include a debit or credit card later this year. These developments are intended to establish a full financial and commerce ecosystem within the platform, similar to models seen in Asia.
I’ve written about this in past GPS articles and I think it’s definitely a trend worth watching. In the Genius Act, there are restrictions on big tech companies issuing their own stablecoins. Nonetheless, this is not a blanket ban, its just that there are arduous approvals required. Whist Musk and Trump recently had the most epic fall-out, I think the relationship persists and could be useful in X becoming a stablecoin issuer. Stablecoins require distribution and both X and Meta are well placed to build global financial platforms. X-Money is something worth watching. Musk doesn’t play small bets, in his head, he sees a trillion dollar opportunity and the only way you can achieve this is by having a global financial platform.
🌍 | Borderless Facilitates African Diaspora Investments in Startups and Real Estate
Borderless, a UK-based startup founded by former Stripe growth lead Joe Kinvi, enables African diaspora collectives to invest in startups and real estate in Africa. Launched in beta last year, the platform has processed over $500,000 in transactions, supporting over 10 startups and two real estate projects in Kenya with minimum investments of $1,000 for startups and $5,000 for property. It provides infrastructure for onboarding members, accepting cross-border payments, and deploying capital securely. Backed by investors like DFS Lab and Paystack’s CTO, Borderless addresses challenges like currency mismatches and regulatory hurdles. The platform aims to channel diaspora remittances into productive assets, enhancing financial inclusion and economic impact in Africa.
It’s been a steady journey for Joe, starting off with Hoaq and now building borderless. He has a clear passion for the space and this should translate into some success. Borderless is helping to bring clarity and order into not remittances, but in fact Foreign Direct Investment done by Africans in the diaspora. The challenge is that there has never been an organised way of coordinating diaspora based retail investors and organising their investments into the continent. Many people in the diaspora send money to their relatives to build houses only to find that their relatives built their own houses. Having said this, Borderless needs to build trust and strong on-ground investment execution and monitoring capabilities. I wonder if the revenue model will be able to sustain the overhead needed to fulfil the promise.
🇰🇪 | Verto launches Reserve feature to earn interest on idle business funds
Verto, a cross-border payments platform, has introduced Verto Reserve, a treasury feature that allows businesses to earn up to 10% annual interest on idle balances held in Nigerian naira, Kenyan shilling, and G10 currencies—even without a local physical presence. The feature enables companies to open interest-bearing wallets in NGN and KES with just a few clicks, partnering with licensed institutions to ensure regulatory compliance. Verto Reserve streamlines treasury operations by consolidating funds, reducing idle capital and bank account complexity, and unlocking new yield opportunities for businesses operating across borders.
Verto deals with sizeable players in the market who retain good balances with Verto particularly in their off-shore accounts. To address this, they are partnering with third party financiers in a marketplace like model to provide yield to the balances that Verto holds. Interestingly, this is similar to the M-Shwari story where M-Pesa customers asked for yield from Safaricom who then went to CBA now NCBA with this insight. With CBA, for the product to work, they needed a lending angle to pay for the yield and thus M-Shwari as a lending product was born. The next logical thing for whoever is paying for yield on these Verto balances will be to ask if they could finance transactions on the Verto platform.
🇺🇸 | Senate Proposal Limits Remittance Tax with Specific Exemptions
The Senate Finance Committee’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, released June 16, 2025, modifies the House’s proposed 3.5% excise tax on remittance transfers effective after December 31, 2025. The Senate version applies the tax to all senders but exempts transfers made through accounts at financial institutions subject to the Bank Secrecy Act’s anti-money laundering requirements, specifically: (i) insured banks, (ii) commercial banks or trust companies, (iii) private bankers, (iv) U.S. agencies or branches of foreign banks, (v) credit unions, (vi) SEC-registered brokers or dealers, and (vii) brokers or dealers in securities or commodities. Transfers funded by U.S.-issued debit or credit cards are also exempt. The tax applies to transfers funded by cash, money orders, cashier’s checks, or similar instruments as determined by the Treasury Secretary. A refundable tax credit is available for U.S. citizens, nationals, green card holders, and work-eligible visa holders with social security numbers. The proposal addresses financial institutions’ concerns and aims to streamline compliance while targeting specific transaction types.
This was an interesting one. It seems that the bank lobby came back and argued that simply, don’t tax any of our customers. This means that the only people who the tax will apply to will be unbanked people who make their remittances through cash, money orders, cashier checks or similar instruments. Essentially, the kind of immigrants who are either undocumented or economically vulnerable. What this means is that;
As argued in a recent GPS post, this business will move into crypto to avoid paying the tax;
Existing remittance business will create basic fintech capabilities targeted at “banking the unbanked”.
All the same, it’s a relief for most African remittance players because it’s no longer the existential threat it was when the tax was first proposed.
🇬🇭 | Onafriq and PAPSS pilot cross-border payments in Ghana
Onafriq, a pan-African digital payments network, partnered with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to launch a six-month cross-border payment pilot in Ghana, approved by the Bank of Ghana. Effective immediately, banks, fintechs, and mobile money providers in Ghana can facilitate instant wallet-to-wallet and bank transfers for SMEs and individuals. The African Export-Import Bank serves as the settlement entity, ensuring secure transactions. The service aims to reduce high transaction costs and opaque exchange rates, promoting intra-African trade and financial inclusion. The pilot will assess transaction flows and user adoption for future expansion across Africa.
It’s good that PAPSS is onboarding new partners onto their platform. So far, major players like KCB, Bank of Kigali and 22 banks in Nigeria have joined PAPSS. Having said that, my worry is that PAPSS is still announcing pilot programs and partnerships 4 years after its launch. I recently tweeted that “If all partnership announcements or press-releases drove actual economic value, the world's GDP would be twice its current size.” I’d be keen on seeing PAPSS volumes now. This is particularly the case given the number of alternatives including Stablecoin based payments that have emerged over the years.
🇿🇦 | Peach Payments launches Digit Pro portable POS terminal in South Africa
Peach Payments, a South African payment gateway, launched the Digit Pro, a point-of-sale device supporting multiple payment methods, including Apple Pay, Capitec Pay, cards, digital wallets, and Buy Now Pay Later options. It is the first such device in South Africa to integrate these methods, with availability planned for Mauritius. The device offers customizable checkout flows, bespoke apps, and a plug-and-play app library, streamlining transactions for businesses with online and physical stores. Tested with enterprises like iTickets, it supports inventory and ticket management, boosting efficiency. The launch enhances omnichannel payment solutions, driving merchant sales and customer convenience.
It was only a matter of time before Peach launched its own POS. It joins Stitch which launched its own hardware after acquiring Exipay. As Kiaan mentioned in our podcast, its a natural evolution with your clients particularly if you give them a world class experience in one format. They need the same chops across all their payment methods. For sure, one challenge is that the POS game particularly for large enterprises is complex given that banks have been the key acquirers and these are usually tied to long-term contracts that support broader banking products e.g. working capital facilities. Nonetheless the direction of travel shows that businesses are keen on a unified experience that includes world class visibility, reporting, fraud and reconciliation - capabilities that the newer players are perfecting.
🇺🇸 | Fiserv unveils FIUSD stablecoin platform for banks
Fiserv, a global fintech company, announced plans to launch FIUSD, a dollar-backed stablecoin on the Solana blockchain, targeting banks and merchants. Partnering with Circle, Paxos, and PayPal, the platform will enable 3,000 regional and community banks to access digital assets, facilitating instant settlements and cross-border payments. The launch aligns with the Senate’s passage of the Genius Act, signaling regulatory support for stablecoins. FIUSD integrates with Fiserv’s existing tools, serving 10,000 financial institutions and 6 million merchants. The move aims to enhance transaction efficiency and mainstream stablecoin adoption in regulated finance.
I recently wrote about “The Stablecoin Hype Train” arguing that in developed markets, I don’t see a natural use case for Stablecoins. Fundamentally, stablecoins are dollar representations on a blockchain, why would I move away from digital dollars on a bank ledger? I’m yet to be truly convinced and I could be missing something major. Tether’s CEO Paolo Ardoino in a recent podcast said that “The US Stablecoin model will not work”. He goes on to elaborate that if the financial system is already at 90%, customers won’t pay for a 5% efficiency gain to 95%. Whilst using different terminology, I argued that there’s no market failure that is driving stablecoin demand. Nonetheless, as Warren Buffett said;
“And so the hunt was on. Wall Street abhors a commercial vacuum. If the will to believe stirs within the customer, the merchandise will be supplied - without warranty. When franchise companies are wanted by investors, franchise companies will be found - and recommended by the underwriters. If there are more to be found, they will be created. Similarly, if above average investment performance is sought, it will be promised in abundance - and at least the illusion will be produced.
Stablecoins are hot and therefore stablecoins will be created. The market abhors a vacuum. If Stripe is making moves, so will we.