PayU Boosts African Footprint With Ghana, New BNPL, QR Products

Payment solutions firm PayU is boosting its footprint in Africa with expansion to Ghana and the launch of two new products — buy now, pay later (BNPL) and QR codes for payments.

PayU is also updating its product through its partnership with Payflex in South Africa, and Scan to Pay and Pay by USSD in Nigeria, according to a press release emailed to PYMNTS on Wednesday (June 8).

“At PayU, we pride ourselves on our global reach and local expertise. We are always looking for ways to improve our services and ensure that our merchants have the tools to expand into new markets. We are also dedicated to enabling alternative methods of payment, catering to the preferences and needs of consumers in each market,” said Karen Nadasen, CEO, PayU South Africa.

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Nadasen added that the African expansion is gratifying to PayU as “enabling access to popular local payment methods or even more specific-to-market alternative payment methods such as MTN MoMoits” is important to merchants in the region in order for them to thrive.

PayU offers online payment services in 50 emerging markets and is headquartered in Hoofddorp, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands. Founded in 2002, the company has traction and offices in India, South Africa and other markets worldwide.

In countries across Africa, BNPL services are becoming more popular with digitally-savvy, unbanked populations, per the release. Payflex was rolled out in 2019 and offers BNPL in South Africa and is among the biggest firms offering the service. Other services offered by the firm include Mobicred, Lulalend and RCS.

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PayU’s partnership with Payflex is enabling consumers in South Africa to bnpl with the ability to pay in four equal and interest-free installments. USSD and Scan to Pay in Nigeria enable money transfers in the country. With USSD, users without a smartphone, data, or internet connection can transfer money, check account balances and more.

While Africa’s internet economy is anticipated to double in value in the next three years, according to the release, and some countries lack affordable data. Nigeria charges an average of $0.88 per gigabyte.

PayU is on a mission to help develop a world without financial borders and this solution offers technology that promotes financial inclusion even in unbanked sectors of society.