Global Payments via Bitcoin Rails Will Soon Be Available for 16 African Countries

Yellow Card and Block’s TBD, a Bitcoin-focused developer platform, have partnered to enable fiat and Bitcoin payments in 16 African countries. This development seeks to make cross-border payments and liquidity more accessible and affordable. The Web5 protocol and the tbDEX liquidity network will both include Yellow Card as a launch partner.

Cross-border payments in Africa potentially go up to 10% in fees while taking several days to clear on current infrastructure. 

TBD and Yellow Card successfully tested the viability of real-time payment rails from the United States to Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya in March 2023. Recipients will be able to receive local fiat currencies directly to bank accounts or mobile money wallets like M-PESA and MTN, while senders can initiate transfers in USD. 

TBD supports the exchange of digital assets and regional fiat currencies by converting USD into Bitcoin or stablecoins. Recipients also have the option to store their funds in Bitcoin or USD stablecoins. 

The next step for TBD is to provide decentralized identification, trust, and transaction protocols that permit a wide range of decentralized and reliable exchanges. Overall, TBD offers developer services and APIs for app developers while Yellow Card will enable cross-border transactions and fiat off-ramps for end users to send and receive USD, Bitcoin, and local fiat currencies. 

CEO and co-founder of Yellow Card Chris Maurice stated that “the international payments space, especially in Africa, is in dire need of the innovative solutions we are building together, and this is the culmination of the vision behind Block’s initial investment in Yellow Card in 2021.”

TBD co-founder and COO Emily Chiu commented that in order to get the world closer to a more effective and inclusive global economy, TBD is providing more affordable cross-border payments and commerce. “Yellow Card’s shared passion and expertise across the African continent makes them a partner we’re excited to accomplish this with.”