Latest news with #ChrisMaurice
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
CEO of Africa's Largest Stablecoin Company on Growth
Chris Maurice, CEO of Yellow Card, says the crypto industry has seen a great run in the months following the 2024 US Presidential election. He joins Romaine Bostick on 'Bloomberg: The Close' to discuss the growth of FinTech and cryptocurrencies in Africa. (Source: Bloomberg)
Coin Geek
27-06-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
Yellow Card teams up with Visa for stablecoin payments
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... One of Africa's premier exchanges, Yellow Card, has partnered with Visa (NASDAQ: V) to expand stablecoin payments across the region. The partnership will center around cross-border transfers, which continue to be slow, inefficient, and expensive. According to the World Bank, Africans pay 8.5% in costs, with the global average at 6.6%. 'When you look at stablecoins, there's a lot of excitement in the market and all the major payment companies are exploring ways to get into the space,' Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice told Bloomberg. Yellow Card has been shifting its business model to focus on stablecoins for years. In January 2024, the exchange told CoinGeek that its African users were now turning to stablecoins to make payments abroad and receive remittances. Under the new partnership, the exchange plans to launch its new stablecoin service in at least one African country this year, Maurice said. It intends to expand its services to more than 20 countries in which it operates next year. While the company didn't reveal which country it would launch in first, Kenya is the most likely. According to the exchange's senior legal counsel, Edline Murungi, the East African nation's recent regulatory efforts have made it among the most appealing on the continent. The proposed Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill draws a distinction between speculative 'crypto' tokens and stable assets, laying out separate policies for each category. If it passes, the bill will be the most progressive in Africa, Murungi told Bloomberg in a separate interview. 'Those use cases are going to really change the industry. And if other countries follow suit, then Kenya is going to be a hub for a lot of digital-asset activities,' she stated. In addition to the upcoming friendly laws, stablecoin adoption in Kenya is also among the highest in Africa. A report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in January revealed that a large number of Kenyan firms now pay their foreign suppliers in stablecoins owing to a dollar shortage and high costs on mainstream channels. While most African countries still lack comprehensive 'crypto' regulations, CEO Maurice believes the region is still the best place to launch digital asset products due to its fintech-friendly frameworks. 'There's no better place to be [launching] a company in stablecoins than the African continent where you have more regulators that have licensing available, there's more engagement with regulators…[Africa's] had more friendly trends over the past two and a half years than you did in any other single continent in the world,' Maurice stated while speaking at a recent event in New York. For Visa, the Yellow Card partnership is the latest in its quest to position itself as a stablecoin mainstay. It first settled a stablecoin transaction on its rails in 2023, and since then, it claims to have settled $225 million in similar transactions, a small fraction of the $28 trillion that flowed through stablecoins last year. Visa's stablecoin ventures are as much about innovation as they are about protecting its position. Industry experts have expressed concerns that stablecoins could eat into the market share that the company and Mastercard (NASDAQ: MA) have enjoyed for decades. Africa's digital wallets to record 13% CAGR, hit $59B by 2029 Away from stablecoins, a new report has revealed that Africa's prepaid card and digital wallet market will continue growing aggressively over the next four years to hit $59 billion by 2029. The report revealed that over the past four years, the sector has recorded an 18.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), and is expected to end this year at $36.1 billion. Source: Research and Markets Digital wallets and prepaid cards have benefited from a rise in the adoption of digital solutions and concerted efforts to promote financial inclusion. This has rapidly lowered the number of unbanked and underbanked people, with some countries like Kenya and Egypt achieving a financial inclusion rate exceeding 75%. African countries continue to lead in mobile money banking. To capitalize on it, digital wallet providers have integrated their solutions into mobile money platforms, further fueling adoption. 'As the market evolves, companies that adapt to regulatory requirements, invest in security enhancements, and offer innovative solutions will be best positioned for long-term success,' the report noted. Watch: Boosting financial inclusion in Africa with BSV blockchain title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Zawya
25-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Africa: Yellow Card and Visa's strategic alliance aims to fast-track stablecoin adoption globally
Yellow Card, a licensed stablecoin payments orchestrator in Africa, has partnered with Visa to accelerate innovation in cross-border payments and digital financial infrastructure. The two will explore stablecoin use cases to streamline treasury operations, improve liquidity management, and enable faster, more cost-effective money movement across emerging markets. 'Traditional payment companies continue to question not 'if' they need a stablecoin strategy, but how quickly they can deploy one,' said Chris Maurice, co-founder and chief executive officer of Yellow Card. 'We are thrilled to partner with Visa to help realize the potential of stablecoins technology in emerging economies.' Godfrey Sullivan, senior vice president and head of product and solution for CEMEA, Visa, said, 'We're excited to team up with Yellow Card to enable faster and more accessible digital payments. We believe that every institution that moves money will need a stablecoin strategy. "As more players in the payments ecosystem explore this powerful new technology, Visa stands ready to help our partners navigate the transformation, bringing the scale, trust and innovation needed to help build the next generation of global payments.' Yellow Card operates in more than 20 African countries and provides access to secure, compliant, and accessible stablecoin products for consumers, businesses, and developers. This partnership further cements Yellow Card's role as a critical financial gateway and infrastructure provider in emerging markets.
Tahya Masr
23-06-2025
- Business
- Tahya Masr
Visa Expands Stablecoin Initiatives in CEMEA
Visa (NYSE: V), a global leader in digital payments, announced significant advancements in its stablecoin initiatives, with expanded settlement capabilities in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) region and a strategic partnership with Yellow Card, a leading pan-African fintech. These efforts further underscore Visa's vision for transforming money movement and building the next generation of payment infrastructure through innovative technology. With the payments landscape more dynamic and competitive than ever, stablecoins are emerging as one of the most promising tools for faster and more accessible digital payments. Godfrey Sullivan, Visa's Senior Vice President and Head of Product and Solution for CEMEA, said, 'In 2025, we believe that every institution that moves money will need a stablecoin strategy. As more players in the payments ecosystem explore this powerful new technology, Visa stands ready to help our partners navigate the transformation, bringing the scale, trust and innovation needed to help build the next generation of global payments. Modernizing Settlement Infrastructure Visa is expanding its stablecoin settlement solution to select issuers and acquirers in CEMEA, enabling USD cross-border transactions through blockchain technology. This initiative helps reduce settlement costs, enhances liquidity management, and can support 365-day settlements, including weekends and holidays. In 2023, Visa became one of the first major payments networks to settle transactions in stablecoin when it piloted enabling clients to fulfill their settlement obligations in USDC. To date, over $225 million in stablecoin volume has been settled through Visa across participating clients. Enhancing Cross-Border Money Movement Visa is partnering with Yellow Card, a leading pan-African fintech, to explore stablecoin use cases and opportunities across markets where Yellow Card is licensed to operate to help streamline treasury operations and enhance liquidity management. The partnership is intended to test integration opportunities with Visa Direct to further investigate and expand cross-border payment options. As one of the world's largest digital payments networks, Visa Direct enables secure and seamless funds delivery across more than 190 countries and territories. Chris Maurice, Co-Founder and CEO of Yellow Card, said, "Together with Visa, we're building a bridge between traditional finance and the future of money movement. We look forward to continuing to innovate new solutions that can transform how money moves for even more secure, efficient, and transparent payment solutions."
IOL News
20-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Yellow Card teams up with Visa to expand stablecoin use in emerging markets
(left to right) Cuy Sheffield, Vice President, Head of Crypto, Visa; Chris Maurice, CEO & Co-Founder, Yellow Card; Godfrey Sullivan, Senior Vice President, Head of Product and Solution, CEMEA, Visa Africa-focused crypto payments firm Yellow Card has partnered with global payments giant Visa to accelerate the adoption of stablecoins in cross-border transactions across emerging markets, the companies said on Thursday. Yellow Card, a licensed stablecoin payments platform operating in more than 20 African countries, said the collaboration will explore new use cases for stablecoins in treasury operations, liquidity management, and international remittances. The partnership is part of a broader push to modernis
