Brazilian Unicorn, EBANX, set to Compete its Entry into Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa
EBANX, a major player in Brazilian payments, announced that it was entering Africa and would begin with Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa. EBANX says it is prepared to take on the globe by entering new markets after nearly ten years of operation in Latin America. According to EBANX, Africa will be the next major growth region for digital payments and the digital market in the 2020s.
The startup will undoubtedly compete against other fast expanding companies on the continent including Interswitch, Flutterwave, Paystack, Yoco, and others.
EBANX, a Brazilian company founded in 2012 by Alphonse Voigt, Joo Del Valle, and Wagner Ruiz, enables international companies to connect with thousands of payment options throughout the world. Its geographic reach has now increased to 15 countries. It was the first tech startup from southern Brazil to achieve a $1 billion value in October 2019 after receiving a follow-on investment from FTV Capital, a U.S.-based growth equity investment company.
“This is the moment for Africa,” said CEO and co-founder of EBANX, Joo Del Valle, “and it’s quite reminiscent of the Latin American landscape back in 2012 when EBANX first began its journey by providing global merchants access to sell more goods and digital services via the internet to Latin Americans through local payment methods.”
“Africa’s fast-growing digital economy is only in its early days, and it’s projected to grow up and to the right for the next few decades. Together with local players, EBANX will be a catalyst to realize the many benefits of a digital economy even faster.”
With EBANX as its payments partner, Pipefy, a potent SaaS low-code platform for workflow management created in 2015 in Latin America and present in more than 200 countries worldwide, is active in the continent of Africa. Bellizia stated, “Having Pipefy as a merchant makes this moment even more special to us, expanding solutions and services throughout regions full of opportunities. Expanding our solutions to African countries speaks directly to EBANX’s mission of creating access.
Popular local payment options will be considered by EBANX solutions in the Africa region. Online shoppers in South Africa can use Instant EFT by OZOW to access internet banking and send an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) that is immediately validated. EFT is currently South Africa’s second-most popular online payment option.
EBANX may consider partnering with M-Pesa for Kenyans, a mobile banking service that also allows users to use their phones to pay for internet purchases. USSD, a session-based protocol that uses the GSM signaling channel to request information and activate services, will be used in Nigeria. Customers can use it to pay for their online purchases.