Akkam,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- Nigeria wants cross-border card that skips third-party currencies
- Yellow Card wins Swiss approval, opening door to Europe
- Daya raises $2.4 million to build stablecoin payment rails
Nigeria wants cross-border card that skips third-party currencies
Nigeria’s government is throwing its weight behind the idea of a cross-border African payment card that would allow transactions across the continent without first converting money into third-party currencies like the US dollar or euro. The proposal, discussed at the Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Abuja, is part of a broader push to make African trade cheaper, faster, and less dependent on foreign financial infrastructure. At its core, the plan is about keeping more value, transaction data, and settlement activity within Africa rather than routing payments through overseas networks.
Today, many transactions between African countries still pass through dollar-based systems, even when both parties are located on the continent. That means extra conversion costs, longer settlement times, and greater exposure to foreign exchange volatility. Policymakers believe a continent-wide card scheme could remove some of those inefficiencies and make it easier for businesses, travellers, and consumers to transact directly in African currencies. The move also aligns with the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to boost trade between African nations.
What’s interesting is that this isn’t an entirely new idea. Africa has already been building the infrastructure for local-currency payments through the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which launched in January 2022. PAPSS allows participating banks and payment providers to process cross-border transactions in local currencies, reducing reliance on the dollar. In April 2025, the Central Bank of Nigeria directed banks to adopt PAPSS more broadly, while pilots linking payment networks across countries have continued to expand.
The proposed card initiative also builds on the launch of PAPSSCARD in June 2025, billed as Africa’s first Pan-African card scheme. Backed by Afreximbank, PAPSS, and Mercury Payment Services, the card was created to process payments entirely within Africa instead of relying on international card networks. Supporters argue that doing so could lower costs, improve data sovereignty, and strengthen the continent’s financial independence. The latest push from Nigerian officials suggests policymakers now want to accelerate adoption and scale the system across more markets.
The backdrop is a rapidly growing market. According to industry estimates, Africa’s cross-border payments market could reach $1 trillion by 2035, up from about $329 billion in 2025. Yet the sector still loses billions of dollars annually to foreign exchange friction, fragmented regulations, and payment inefficiencies. Against that backdrop, the drive for a Pan-African payment card is less about creating another piece of fintech infrastructure and more about reshaping how money moves across the continent. The question now is whether banks, regulators, merchants, and consumers will embrace the system quickly enough for it to become a genuine alternative to existing global payment rails.
Yellow Card wins Swiss approval, opening door to Europe
On June 23, 2026, Yellow Card announced that it had secured regulatory approval in Switzerland through membership in a Swiss self-regulatory organisation, a move that gives the African stablecoin payments company a foothold in one of the world’s most respected financial jurisdictions. The approval comes as Yellow Card increasingly positions itself not as a retail crypto exchange but as a compliance-focused infrastructure provider powering cross-border payments, treasury services and stablecoin settlements for businesses across Africa and beyond.
Victoria Fakiya – Senior Writer
Techpoint Digest
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The significance goes beyond a new licence. Switzerland has become one of the most important hubs for digital asset companies because of its clear regulatory framework and reputation among global financial institutions. For Yellow Card, the approval strengthens its credibility with banks, payment companies and multinational firms looking for regulated stablecoin partners. It also supports the company’s ambition to connect African payment corridors with international financial markets while maintaining regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions.
The development arrives at a time when Yellow Card is aggressively expanding its enterprise business. Over the last two years, the company has shifted away from its original consumer-focused crypto trading model and doubled down on stablecoin-powered payments infrastructure. In 2025, it partnered with major financial players and increasingly marketed itself as a bridge between traditional finance and blockchain-based payments. The company has also been riding the growing adoption of stablecoins across Africa, where businesses use dollar-backed digital assets to hedge against currency volatility and move money across borders more efficiently.
The Swiss approval is the latest step in a broader regulatory journey. In November 2024, Yellow Card secured a crypto licence in South Africa, one of the continent’s most closely watched digital asset markets. Before that, the company spent years building compliance capabilities across dozens of African countries. Founded by Chris Maurice and Justin Poiroux, Yellow Card launched in Nigeria in 2019 and rapidly expanded across the continent. It raised a $15 million Series A in September 2021 and followed it with a $40 million Series B in September 2022, at the time one of the largest funding rounds for an African crypto company.
Taken together, the Swiss approval reflects a broader trend unfolding across the digital assets industry: the winners are increasingly the firms that can combine blockchain technology with strong regulatory credentials. While many crypto companies spent the last few years battling regulators, Yellow Card has chosen the opposite route, accumulating licences, approvals and banking relationships. With operations spanning multiple African markets and a growing focus on institutional payments, the company appears to be building the regulatory foundation needed to compete on a global stage rather than just an African one.
Daya raises $2.4 million to build stablecoin payment rails
Nigerian fintech startup Daya has raised a $2.4 million pre-seed round, one of the more notable early-stage stablecoin deals to emerge from Africa this year. The oversubscribed round, announced yesterday, June 24, was led by Hivemind Capital, with participation from Lattice Fund, Alliance DAO, Aptos Foundation, and Globelink Investment, per TechCabal. For a startup that only launched in October 2025, the funding marks a significant vote of confidence in its vision of using stablecoins to simplify cross-border payments for African businesses.
What makes the raise noteworthy is what it says about where fintech investors are placing their bets. For years, African startups focused on wallets, merchant payments, and consumer banking. Now, attention is increasingly shifting toward infrastructure that helps businesses move money internationally. Daya wants to sit at the centre of that trend by providing companies with dollar accounts, stablecoin settlement tools, treasury management services, and access to international payment corridors. The company is essentially pitching itself as a bridge between traditional banking systems and blockchain-powered payments.
Stablecoins have moved far beyond their original use as crypto trading tools. According to Chainalysis, stablecoins processed roughly $28 trillion in transaction volume globally in 2025, driven increasingly by real-world payments, remittances, and treasury operations rather than speculative trading. For African businesses dealing with foreign exchange shortages, expensive correspondent banking networks, and slow international settlements, stablecoins are becoming an increasingly attractive alternative. Investors appear to believe that the companies building this infrastructure today could become critical financial rails tomorrow.
The startup has been moving quickly since its launch. Seven months after graduating from Alliance DAO’s ALL15 accelerator cohort, Daya has already begun building international partnerships. Earlier in June 2026, it partnered with Aptos Foundation and Dubai-based HashKey MENA to launch a payment corridor linking businesses in Africa and the Middle East. Through the arrangement, businesses can access virtual USD, HKD, and CNY accounts, convert local currencies into dollar liquidity, settle transactions with stablecoins, and receive payouts in local currencies. The company says revenue and usage have been growing by more than 40% month-on-month in 2026, although it has not disclosed customer numbers.
Daya’s rise reflects a broader shift taking place across African fintech. As funding markets become more selective, investors are increasingly favouring startups solving tangible business problems rather than chasing consumer growth at all costs. Cross-border commerce remains one of Africa’s biggest financial bottlenecks, and a growing crop of startups, including Yellow Card, Juicyway, and now Daya, are betting that stablecoins can unlock a faster, cheaper way to move money across the continent and beyond. With fresh capital in hand, Daya is now racing to expand its payment corridors, strengthen compliance capabilities, and establish itself as a foundational layer for African businesses operating in a global economy.
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Have a superb Thrusday!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa
