Navigation

© Zeal News Africa

Fintech Frontier: Africhange Unveils USD Virtual Accounts & Crypto-Powered Features

Published 2 weeks ago4 minute read
Fintech Frontier: Africhange Unveils USD Virtual Accounts & Crypto-Powered Features

Africhange Technologies Limited, a Canada-based remittance company with established operations across Nigeria, the UK, Canada, and Australia, is significantly expanding its offerings by integrating cryptocurrency services into its traditional remittance platform. This strategic move introduces three new digital asset features: USD virtual accounts, stablecoin funding options, and innovative crypto payment methods. Designed to cater to Africa’s rapidly expanding community of digital asset users, this expansion comes at a pivotal time when cryptocurrency adoption across Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing robust growth.

Data from Chainalysis underscores this burgeoning market, revealing that the region processed over $205 billion in on-chain flows between July 2024 and June 2025, marking an impressive 52% increase from the preceding year. This surge is particularly pronounced in countries like Nigeria, where approximately 25.9 million individuals, nearly 12% of the national population, now utilize digital assets. Africhange's move aligns with this trend, positioning it to address the evolving financial needs of cross-border users.

One of the cornerstone features of Africhange’s new offering is the introduction of USD virtual accounts, directly addressing a long-standing challenge in the remittance industry: deposit fees. Unlike many competitors that impose charges for funding user accounts, Africhange’s USD accounts operate entirely without such fees. This allows users to maintain USD balances, execute currency conversions at what the company asserts are highly competitive rates, and seamlessly dispatch funds. This focus on cost-efficiency aims to provide a more accessible and economical solution for its clientele.

Further enhancing its financial ecosystem, the platform now accepts leading stablecoins, USDT and USDC, for funding these USD virtual accounts. This integration is a direct response to a practical need within the cryptocurrency community, where holders often face difficulties converting digital assets into usable fiat without resorting to less efficient peer-to-peer trading or accepting unfavorable exchange rates. Users can now effortlessly transfer stablecoins from popular exchanges like Coinbase or Bybit directly into their Africhange accounts, making these funds readily available for standard remittance operations. This feature also extends its utility to businesses, enabling them to receive payments in stablecoins, thus streamlining cross-border transactions.

Africhange is also pioneering a “Pay with Crypto” feature, setting it apart among traditional remittance providers. This innovative option serves as an additional payment method alongside conventional channels. The process is straightforward: users initiate remittance transactions on the platform, receive a unique wallet address, and then fund their transfers using cryptocurrency from their preferred exchange or digital wallet. Crucially, while the sender utilizes cryptocurrency, the recipient continues to receive local currency through established banking channels. This ingenious separation ensures that only the sender requires cryptocurrency literacy, allowing recipients to interact with familiar banking services. For instance, an individual sending money from London to Lagos can opt to transfer USDC, with their recipient collecting the equivalent in Nigerian Naira without any crypto interaction.

These significant launches coincide with Africhange's strategic decision to consolidate its operations by closing NairaEx, its sister company previously focused solely on cryptocurrency services. This move is not an exit from the crypto market but rather a deliberate integration of NairaEx’s capabilities into the primary Africhange platform. The company explained that this consolidation aims to make Africhange a “much more robust remittance platform,” reflecting a broader ambition to create a comprehensive financial ecosystem. This unified infrastructure will seamlessly handle both traditional and digital currency transactions, serving African corridors with enhanced efficiency and breadth of service.

Africhange’s expansion leverages its existing robust regulatory and operational foundations. The company holds essential licenses in Nigeria, the UK, Canada, and Australia, facilitating remittance corridors across Africa, Europe, and North America. The company stated, “It is a lot easier for us to start with this crypto direction, because we have the wheels, we have all of the infrastructure we need to go this direction.” The new features are meticulously designed to appeal to users at the intersection of traditional remittances and cryptocurrency adoption, including diaspora communities holding digital assets, individuals engaged in cross-border business, and those seeking alternatives to expensive peer-to-peer trading. This timely integration aligns with the widespread growth of fintech across Africa, driven by currency instability and increasing digital literacy, positioning Africhange to serve both its established customer base and the burgeoning segment of crypto-savvy users through a single, integrated platform.

Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

You may also like...