Carbon, the Pan-African fintech company providing access to basic financial services for
Africans, announced a strategic five-year partnership with Visa, the world player in digital
payments, to offer both digital and physical issuance of Visa cards to its customers.
Carbon is launching Visa debit cards in the third quarter of 2021, roughly a year after shifting
from being a leading digital lending company to becoming a digital bank offering a range of
financial services including, savings and payments.
By leveraging Visa payment functionalities, Carbon will deploy an instant issuance process in
three key markets including Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya.
The collaboration between both companies includes financial support from Visa and will be
spread over the five-year partnership period.
The funds will be used to provide implementation and marketing support to help drive further
growth and adoption of Visa’s payment solutions across Carbon’s products.
“Carbon is focused on delivering an unparalleled banking experience that is both safe and
reliable across all touchpoints,”
said Chijioke Dozie, CEO/Co-founder of Carbon.
“We want more customers to enjoy some of our popular products like Carbon Zero through
their Carbon card, and key to achieving this is our partnership with a leading payments and
fintech-friendly company like Visa.”
With the arrival of debit cards, Carbon is building on its fast-growing user base of over 650,000
customers and a strong 2020 fiscal year which saw the company process ₦96.54 billion
($241.35 million) in payments and ₦25.21 billion ($63 million) in loan disbursements, eclipsing
the previous year’s numbers despite the pandemic.
“The rapid pace of technology innovation has driven a powerful shift in business and consumer
expectations in finance,”
said Kemi Okusanya, Vice President, Visa West Africa.
“Whether it is changing the way people invest, manage money, receive loans, or send real-time
payments to friends and family, Visa is a natural partner for fintechs including Carbon, providing
them with new ways to reach their customers through Visa’s vast network and global scale.”
Adding Visa cards to its payments stack will also enable easier access to Carbon Zero, the
company’s Buy Now Pay Later product, which allows consumers zero percent financing on
items they need the most but cannot afford immediately.
The partnership with Visa will undoubtedly go a long way in consolidating Carbon’s first-rate digital bank status and facilitate a robust payment experience for consumers across different
demographics with unique financial needs.
