dLocal expands its African footprint; integrates with Verve and Fawry

Emerging market payments company, dLocal has announced its expansion into four African countries – Kenya, Senegal, Ghana, and Cameroon and partnership with two new integration partners – Verve in Nigeria and Fawry in Egypt.

With this expansion into these four African countries and the recent announcement in Latin America and the Caribbean, with Costa Rica, The Dominican Republic, and Panama, this brings the total number of operating countries to 26.

dLocal already operates in Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa.

Recently dLocal received $200 million new growth investment, brining its valuation to $1.2 billion, becoming Uruguay’s first unicorn.

Since its inception in Uruguay in 2016, dLocal has been processing cross-border payments profitably achieving over 100% annual organic growth over the past four years and now serving 450+ merchants in 26 countries, with connectivity to more than 300 alternative payment methods.

Expansion into Kenya, Senegal, Ghana, and Cameroon

In addition to local Visa and Mastercard credit cards, the recent expansion includes the following integrations to the dLocal 360° payment platform:

• Kenya: Merchants selling into Kenya can now accept payments from mobile money platforms mPesa and Airtel.
• Senegal: Merchants expanding into Senegal can now take payments from mobile money platforms Orange and Wizall Money.
• Ghana: dLocal has enabled payment acceptance for merchants in Ghana to include mobile money platforms Vodafone, MTN, Tigo, and Airtel.
• Cameroon: Added payment methods include mobile money platforms Orange and MTN.
• Payouts: Merchants can now execute local payments and deposit local currency directly to mobile money and local bank accounts in all supported African countries.
• Single API integration: Current dLocal clients can immediately grow revenue in these four countries via the platform’s single API, with no need for any additional integration.

“Africa is a tremendous untapped e-commerce opportunity. The number of internet users is significant, starting 2020 with 453 million users, and the region has huge potential for growth with an under 40% penetration rate,” said Adebiyi Aromolaran, Head of Expansion Africa of dLocal.

“Mobile money schemes are experiencing the most growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Mobile money platforms, such as mPesa, Orange, and Tigo, for example, have grown in popularity across the continent and should be accepted by companies looking to scale their businesses in this region. We’re excited to expand our network to include these four countries and solve the payments part of the growth equation for our clients.”

Integration Partnerships with Verve and Fawry

dLocal also announced its integration partnership with Interswitch’s Verve in Nigeria and Fawry in Egypt.

This partnership will now enable the company to add Verve’s 47 million cards and tokens on its payment platform. Verve cards are also accepted in 21 African countries.

Mike Ogbalu III, Chief Executive Officer, Verve International commenting on the announcement said: “The acceptance of Verve cards and tokens through dLocal is another remarkable achievement for our card scheme on the heels of our partnership with Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS). Verve provides more convenience for our cardholders in Nigeria and across 12 other African markets.  Our growing acceptance by global online merchants such as Netflix and Microsoft through dLocal reinforces the reality that Africa, more than ever before, is fully open and ready for global payments.

“We assure our customers, partners and merchants, that we will continue to be at the forefront of providing convenient payment options for Africans in Africa and globally.”

Adebiyi Aromolaran, Head of Expansion Africa for dLocal, said: “Through our research and many discussions with clients, it became abundantly clear that many African countries are brimming with potential, with Nigeria at the top of the list for many of our clients’ expansion aspirations. Being able to offer local Verve card and token payments is going to be a huge benefit for our clients looking to access this market.”

The integration with Fawry, the recent Egyptian Unicorn, will see an addition of 166,500 cash payment locations to the dLocal network.