Nigerian Fintech Vella Finance Launches SMB Platform

Fintech in Nigeria Vera Finance announced a new user interface and new products as part of its platform to help streamline cross-border payments for small and medium-sized business (SMB) owners in Africa.

Vella 2.0 will bridge the TradFi and DeFi and cryptocurrency rails and provide an alternative payment solution for SMB owners, Vella Finance said in a press release emailed to PYMNTS on Friday (October 7). I was.

“At Vella, our long-term goal is to be the payments partner of choice for 80% of businesses originating in Africa,” said Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Vella Finance. Tol Adedayo mentioned in the release.

Solutions offered by Vella include Global Pay, which helps businesses send money to partners in 80 countries. Vella Boost helps businesses invest in cash flow. According to the release, Fintech-as-a-Service (FaaS) will help businesses become crypto-enabled to manage embedded finance, cards, wallets and payments.

“The sweet spot for Vellas is our ability to layer the normal, traditional finance that businesses are already accustomed to on top of our crypto infrastructure,” said Vella Finance CEO. Mark Afolabi mentioned in the release. “First we were merchants, then we were small business enablers.

As PYMNTS reported in March, SMBs and entrepreneurs play a key role in the overall development of most economies, especially emerging regions like Africa.

read more: Customized payment solutions enable growth in Africa’s underserved self-employed segment

In fact, a research study on entrepreneurship in Africa, published by the Tony Ermel Foundation in partnership with Stanford University, found that Africa has a higher proportion of working-age adult entrepreneurs than any other continent in the world. I’m here.

New PYMNTS Survey: How Consumers Use Digital Banks

A PYMNTS survey of 2,124 US consumers found that while two-thirds of consumers use FinTechs as part of their banking services, only 9.3 call them their main bank. % was.