Vesicash, a Nigerian-based financial technology startup, has announced its expansion to key African markets and the launch of its Merchant of Record (MoR) product.
The operational complexities involved with expanding to new markets mean that many African businesses either shy away from it or take their time, which could mean another 12 months of delay.
This is because to expand, a business will need to incorporate in the new market, sign up and integrate multiple local payment partners, pay taxes and develop a customer resolution framework, all in line with the prevailing regulations in that market.
Having a Merchant of Record, which handles the payment from customers, compliance and payout to the business, reduces the need for this operational overhead and allows businesses to focus on localizing their product, packaging and marketing, and ultimately Record and leveraging its technology to connect African businesses to suitable partners.
Tomisin Adeshiyan, Vesicash’s Co-founder and Head of New Market Expansion, says, “We are thrilled to launch our Merchant of Record technology in multiple African markets. Thus, expanding our reach to businesses in Ghana, Rwanda, Zambia, and Egypt.
For example, a Nigerian business looking to collect payments from their customers in Ghana or Kenya shouldn’t find it unnecessarily arduous. By empowering African businesses with innovative payment solutions, we’re committed to enabling the growth of their businesses by helping them effortlessly scale into new markets”.
Founded in 2018, Vesicash aims to catalyse the African digital economy by enabling businesses to pay and securely receive payments digitally seamlessly. Its flagship offering, a digital escrow product has grown and now serves over 5,000 businesses.
Alongside the launch of its MoR product, the company has boosted its escrow technology with new features such as milestone capability, third-party managed escrow, transaction and team-based role assignments. These new features enable automated payments, faster processing times, and secure payment processing. “With our combined product offerings, businesses can effectively manage their local and cross-border B2B payments with an additional security layer,” says Tomisin Adeshiyan.
To support its global ambition of powering payment optionality and digital commerce adoption, Vesicash has partnered with strategic players such as Flutterwave, Alexpay, and Wapipay. This ever-increasing list of partnerships allows the company to offer its business users greater payment flexibility for their customers.
