Nigerian Fintech Yellow Card Expands Into Canada, Extending Its Global Payments Network

Nigerian-founded fintech company Yellow Card has expanded its operations into Canada, marking another step in the company’s transition from a pan-African fintech to a global provider of stablecoin and cross-border payment infrastructure.

The expansion is being driven through Alkepay Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Yellow Card that provides foreign exchange dealing and cross-border funds transfer services to clients in Canada.

Alkepay is registered with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) as a Money Services Business and with the Bank of Canada as a payment service provider under Canada’s Retail Payment Activities Act.

Yellow Card was founded in Nigeria and has grown into a global financial infrastructure company serving banks, fintechs and multinational businesses. Its platform supports more than 50 currencies and enables businesses to access US dollars, manage treasury operations and facilitate cross-border payments. The company counts global financial and payments companies including Visa, Mastercard, Western Union, Thunes and MoneyGram among its partners.

The Canadian expansion comes shortly after Yellow Card secured a US$40 million strategic funding round, which the company plans to use to support its continued international growth.

Over the past year, the company has been expanding beyond its original African market, including strategic hires in Latin America and Southeast Asia. It has also strengthened its European presence through the affiliation of its Swiss virtual asset service provider, StaaS Fintech Services SA, with SO-FIT, a FINMA-recognised self-regulatory organisation.

For Yellow Card, the move into Canada represents more than geographic expansion. It reflects a broader shift in Africa’s fintech ecosystem, where companies that initially emerged to address gaps in local financial systems are increasingly building infrastructure for international markets.

The company’s expansion comes as stablecoins and digital payment infrastructure become increasingly relevant to global money movement, particularly for businesses operating across multiple currencies and markets.

With its Canadian entry, Yellow Card is positioning its infrastructure to connect businesses and institutions across Africa and other emerging markets with wider global financial networks.

The expansion also highlights the growing capacity of African-founded fintech companies to develop solutions for cross-border finance and take those solutions into highly regulated international markets.

Yellow Card’s latest move therefore marks another milestone in the evolution of Africa’s fintech sector, from building digital financial services for underserved markets to creating infrastructure designed to facilitate global commerce.