Real-Time Cross-Border Payments to Be More Accessible in Most African Countries

Cross-border payments and real-time financial information will become more accessible to more than 32 million customers in 35 countries across Africa. 

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the parent company of pan-African banking group Ecobank, announced a partnership with payment system Nium. The collaboration aims to provide seamless cross-border payments for SMEs in African markets and facilitate international remittances worldwide. 

The collaboration includes the integration of Nium’s payment infrastructure into Ecobank’s banking operations. As a result, the bank will be able to perform real-time transfers and transmission of financial information, clearing, settlement, and payment tracking through SWIFT.

According to the press release, the initiative will significantly simplify and accelerate cross-border payment processing for Ecobank customers in more than 220 markets, including the ability to process payments in real-time for over 100 countries. Besides, the partnership will enable the exchange of information standards Swift MT and ISO 20022 for the initialization of real-time cross-border payments. 

Problems of low efficiency of cross-border payments and lack of access to them are still relevant for African countries. The world’s largest financial companies are working to solve these problems. In early November, Mastercard joined forces with Buna to expand opportunities and simplify cross-border payments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. And a month earlier, MANSA and Bitmama launched a crypto card to facilitate cross-border payments in African countries.