Top African payment companies increase by 100% in five years

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  • Today, FXC Intelligence published The 2023 Cross-Border Payments 100.
  • Now in its fifth year, the list is published annually to recognise and celebrate the biggest players in the cross border payments industry.
  • Africa is a key emerging market and African companies in the top 100 this year increased by 100% since 2019.

Today, FXC Intelligence published The 2023 Cross-Border Payments 100, a market map of the key players in the cross-border payments space. Now in its fifth year, the map is widely recognised as the definitive benchmark of the biggest players in the industry.

 

Featuring companies across money transfers, payments processing, ecommerce, B2B and beyond, the map separates the top 100 players into seven groups: VC/growth equity backed, independently owned, banks, private equity backed, crypto and public companies.

 

The top 100 is published annually to recognise and celebrate the biggest players in the cross-border payments industry. This year we’re also taking a look back over the data we have accumulated on the top cross border companies to analyse key developments since 2019, one of which is the proliferation of emerging markets in Africa.

 

Whilst North America continues to dominate the industry, data from the top 100 over the last five years shows that emerging markets are taking up more market share than ever before.

 

In 2019, three companies in Africa made it into the top 100. This year we have included six companies founded in Africa – an increase of 100%. The companies are Orange Money, MPesa, Flutterwave, MFS Africa, Mukuru and MTN Mobile. These companies were founded or are headquartered in one of the following:

 

        Cote d’Ivoire

        Kenya

        Nigeria

        South Africa

 

Daniel Webber, CEO and founder of FXC Intelligence said:

 

“It’s clear that there has been a boom of key industry players in Africa as companies in the region develop compelling cross-border payment solutions designed for the needs and infrastructure of the continent.

 

“Demand for remittances has generally been picking up in sub-Saharan and North Africa as the cost of living continues to increase. There is also increased competition and transparency in sub-Saharan Africa, where demand for mobile money is high and almost half of mobile money users depend solely on it to access financial services.”

 

“We can also see how new government policies are helping the industry to develop, such as in Nigeria, where there have been efforts to stimulate the development of digital payment solutions and the wider digital economy.”

 

The geographical spread of companies in the top 100 is now more dispersed than ever before, with Africa becoming a real hot spot as demand for cross-border payment service providers continues to evolve.

 

#FXCtop100

 

ENDS

 

Further information

        To see the full breakdown of the top 100, view our report here.

        FXC Intelligence is the industry leader in cross-border payments data and intelligence. Our data is used by a number of intergovernmental bodies, including the World Bank and the Financial Stability Board.

        The world's biggest banks, payments and big tech companies use our critical data to make vital decisions that shape their day-to-day operations, product development and strategy.

        We track pricing, market size and product changes as they happen and update our dataset at high frequency, giving our clients the competitive edge they need to stay on top in a rapidly changing market.

        Our clients can also access datasets on card and ecommerce pricing. We also provide cryptocurrency costs and market data in recognition of its growing significance in the global payments mix.

        Our data gives us a unique understanding of cross-border payments, and we share our analysis and insights every week with subscribers to our newsletter, the most widely read in the cross-border payments market globally. Interested and want to find out more? Sign up to our newsletter here.

Kezia Johnson
Senior Communications Executive
kjohnson@fxcintel.com

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