Kora says its new service that lets merchants accept payments in U.S. dollar is a game changer for businesses across Africa.

Kora, which recently launched the U.S. dollar card-acquisition for merchants on its platform to accept payments in US dollars, says the new product that will help accelerate Africa’s participation in global trade is also part of the renewed global strategy on its pan-African payments infrastructure. 

Kora’s Payin service allows merchants to receive customer payments using various popular payment methods, including mobile money, bank transfers and cards. USD card-acquiring is the latest addition to the company’s suite of currencies that include NGN bank account issuing, payins, payouts, and cross border settlement across multiple countries.

Kora: New service will raise stakes of Africa’s global trade

Kora’s Payin, Sandra Israel-Ovirih, Head of Product at the company says in a statement, allows merchants to receive customer payments using various popular payment methods, including mobile money, bank transfers and cards. 

The USD card-acquiring is the latest addition to its suite of currencies that include NGN bank account issuing, payins, payouts and cross border settlement across multiple countries.

“Incorporating USD card payments has been a priority for a while now. We understand that many businesses operate in a global marketplace and need a seamless payment system to handle cross-border transactions. This will be a game changer for African businesses selling to a global market,” Israel-Ovirih says.

By introducing USD card-acquiring, the payments provider plans to enable its merchants to create truly global businesses and contribute to accelerating Africa’s participation in global trade, the company says.

“We want the merchants we serve to scale globally. Giving them the option to accept USD is an important milestone in this effort,” according to Dickson Nsofor, Kora CEO. 

“The focus is on Africa. But despite an increase in Africa’s participation in global trade,” the Kora CEO says, “our contribution is still only around 3%. Giving African businesses the ability to accept global payment will accelerate Africa’s contribution to global trade. Our next step is launching a multi currency bank account product that allows our merchants to access banking solutions currencies like EUR, GBP and USD via the Kora platform.”