Africa cross-border payment startup, Chipper Cash has launched in the United States to particularly help the African diaspora send back money to their people back in Africa without hassles.
The United States is a crucial remittance corridor into African countries today. The World Bank estimates that north of $45 billion was sent to Sub-Saharan Africa in 2019, with the United States contributing 27% of this number.
Chipper Cash recently launched in South Africa Ghana, and the UK and the company has disclosed it will be rolling Chipper Cash into other markets in the coming months. As part of its expansion drive, the company in September partnered with Ukheshe Technologies to speed up the deployment of its digital payment offerings. Last year, it also partnered with Visa to expand its African reach. It also launched the Chipper VISA card in Nigeria and will be expanding the product across the continent.
In a related development, multiple international award-winning musician Burna Boy also joined the Chipper Cash family as a global brand ambassador to help herald the launch in the United States. The integration of Chipper Cash to Twitter Tips is seen as an option for emerging African creators and thought leaders to receive support on Twitter – via money.
Burna Boy who is one of the most listened to African artists is seen as a strong voice for the African youth. Plus, the Grammy Award winner is passionate about bringing African culture to the world through his music.
Speaking on the partnership, Burna Boy said, “Touring and experiencing the diaspora shows you the importance of creating a bridge that connects us all. So, it’s amazing to see Africans telling African stories, singing songs about their motherland, and also building bridges using fintech. Chipper Cash connects Africa and the world to those contributing to the rich creativity and culture in our stories. While also enabling instant payments for urgent needs like medicine, school, and hospital fees.”
For most African diaspora, sending money to their loved ones can sometimes be expensive and frustrating, exemplified by hidden charges and a never-ending chain of money agents which ought not to be as sending money into and across the continent should be affordable, easy, and secure. To that end, the Chipper Cash mobile app will enable instant peer-to-peer (P2P) payments from the US to 8 countries in Africa and the UK.
And it gets better—payments from the US to Nigeria are free. The platform launched in the most populous African Country in 2019.
All you need to get going is to download our app (available on IOS and Android) and securely add funds from your bank account. You can start sending money or transacting with other Chipper customers across Africa and the United Kingdom free and instantly.
Also, Chipper Cash has raised $150 million in a Series C extension round led by Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX.
The investment comes barely six months after Chipper Cash closed its first Series C round of $100 million, led by SVB Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of SVB Financial Group.
SVB Capital reinvested in this extension round and other existing investors such as Deciens Capital, Ribbit Capital, Bezos Expeditions, One Way Ventures and Tribe Capital.