Cellulant, a payments technology company, aims to change how businesses in Africa make and receive payments by introducing online and offline payment solutions.
The African payments market is expanding rapidly, owing primarily to advances in peer-to-peer (P2P) and consumer-to-business (C2B) payment solutions. However, payment processing fragmentation remains a significant challenge for businesses looking to establish a presence in Africa.
Cellulant is no stranger to solving difficult problems; founded in 2003 at the height of Africa’s mobile technology boom, Cellulant is building Africa’s most comprehensive payments infrastructure. The company provides a single API payment platform that allows businesses to collect payments online and offline while allowing anyone to pay using mobile money, local and international cards, or a bank account.
Providing alternative payment methods for African consumers is especially important given that the continent accounts for 70% of the world’s $1 trillion mobile money market. Card penetration is currently at 3%, implying that global companies looking to expand into Africa require a payments partner who can provide alternative payment methods for the local market.
Cellulant’s Group CEO Akshay Grover stated at the recently held 25th Annual Harvard Africa Business Conference in Boston, “Solving the payments challenges in Africa is not just about payments but accelerating global economic growth.” Africa’s dynamic economies, combined with the continent’s lack of a well-established payment infrastructure, have resulted in a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. On the one hand, this has resulted in the expansion of payment platforms and solutions to meet the various needs of businesses and consumers, transforming Africa into a center of payments innovation.
Due to the lack of a consistent infrastructure that allows businesses to collect payments seamlessly or easily operate across borders, a wide range of payment methods exist with multiple providers. As a result, a payments infrastructure in Africa must address the needs of businesses and their customers holistically by making it simple to collect payments online and offline – regardless of the size of the business.”
Tingg, a payments platform developed by Cellulant, provides multinational and international businesses with a one-stop-shop solution for their payment needs across the continent. The payments gateway connects to over 370 payment methods, including mobile money operators and banks across the continent, as well as global and regional card switches such as Visa, Mastercard, NIBSS, and Verve.
The payments platform supports both offline and online payments. It serves businesses in a variety of industries, including airlines, telecommunications, e-commerce, ride-hailing, retail, and remittances, allowing them to provide their customers with a frictionless payment experience.
Today, Cellulant processes billions of dollars in payments for well-known global companies such as Emirates, Bolt, KLM, Ethiopian Airlines, Glovo, Kenya Airways, and Jumia. Cellulant’s payouts and collections products are ISO 27001 (ISMS), ISO 27701 (PIMS), ISO 22301 (BCMS), ISO 20000-1 (Service Management), and PCI-DSS compliant.
