Alviere expands its reach to 500M mobile wallets in Africa

Onafriq and Alviere partner to launch embedded remittances and other payment services from the United States to Africa.

DENVER, Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Alviere, the leading embedded finance platform provider, announces Onafriq, Africa's largest digital payments network, has chosen Alviere to enable payments and remittances from the United States to Africa. Onafriq connects various  payment schemes with more than 500 million mobile wallets, over 200 million bank accounts, and 400 thousand small medium businesses in its network across Africa's fast-growing yet fragmented payments ecosystem.

Cross-border payments are a critical lifeline for many African families and merchants, and Onafriq has made enabling financial access across borders a core part of the company mission. According to the World Bank, remittance flows to sub-Saharan Africa alone reached $53 billion in 2022, demonstrating the persistent role of immigrants in the financial well-being of friends and family living in their home countries. Payment solutions provided by companies like Onafriq and Alviere are transforming traditional financial services and providing access to economic opportunities across the continent. This dovetails perfectly with the missions of Alviere and Onafriq to provide critical access to financial services.

Onafriq selected Alviere for its breadth of solutions, technical expertise, and sound approach to regulation and compliance. Alviere is uniquely positioned among embedded finance providers to enable cross-border payments from the United States as a licensed money transmitter throughout the U.S. and its territories. Onafriq will leverage the Alviere HIVE platform and regulatory framework for processing payments originating from the U.S. and its territories in strict compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML), sanctions, and fraud standards for U.S. financial institutions. This creates a seamless, safe, and secure experience for customers.

"We are proud to be a key part of the global effort to make sending a cross border payment as easy and as simple as making a phone call," says Dare Okoudjou, the founder and CEO of Onafriq. "With Alviere's technology and regulatory coverage, and our extensive footprint across the continent, we will enable fast and secure remittances while facilitating financial access and economic prosperity for Africans."

Alviere co-founder and CEO, Pedro Silva, adds, "Onafriq is uniquely positioned to be a global leader in fintech, revolutionizing cross-border payments throughout the African diaspora. We're proud to be partnering with Dare and his team, our joint focus is to enhance financial access for all people regardless of borders, history, or current means. Together, Onafriq and Alviere will enable a variety of efficient, competitive payment options for millions of consumers."

About Alviere
Alviere's comprehensive financial technology platform allows any organization to seamlessly embed financial products and services into existing and new offerings. The Alviere HIVE platform offers an extensive range of configurable, branded financial products and services, including accounts, virtual and physical cards, wallets, payments, and global money transfers. As the first fully regulated financial institution in embedded finance, Alviere prioritizes regulatory compliance, security, and fraud prevention. To find out how Alviere can enable your business to power the financial needs and aspirations of your customers, visit alviere.com.

About Onafriq
Onafriq is an omnichannel network of networks, making borders matter less by providing our partners with a single pathway to unlock the full power of cross-border and cross-platform payment solutions. With a network spanning 40 African markets, Onafriq connects over 500 million mobile money wallets, 200 million bank accounts, and 300,000 agents in Nigeria, enabling domestic and cross-border disbursements and collections, card issuing and processing, agency banking, and treasury services. By connecting global and regional enterprises, mobile network operators, money transfer operators, banks, fintechs, global development organisations, and online and offline merchants, supported by world-class regulatory and compliance capabilities and a strong regional presence in 10 offices in Africa, and others in the UK, US, and China. Onafriq is ushering in a new era of access for people across the African continent and beyond.

SOURCE Alviere