Visa, _able and Onafriq have announced a partnership to expand access to credit through the Visa Flex Credential across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMEA).
The collaboration, announced in Paris, France, is expected to support financial institutions in offering credit experiences alongside existing prepaid and debit card credentials.
Visa Flex Credential enables issuers to provide customers with access to multiple funding sources through a single card credential.
The partners said the initiative could enable financial institutions to extend credit access through existing eligible debit and prepaid cards, while simplifying customer experience and supporting financial inclusion.
Jad Abbas, Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer of _able, said the partnership would help address the gap between widespread card ownership and limited access to credit across the region.
“Most consumers across this region already hold a card, and very few can access credit through it.
“Visa Flex Credential turns that gap into a channel, and _able provides the infrastructure to activate it responsibly and at scale,” Abbas said.
He said the Visa Flex Credential would complement _able’s existing technology platform, which supports banking and mobile money channels across several markets.
According to him, the integration would enable financial institutions to provide a broader range of credit and savings products through a unified technology platform.
Godfrey Sullivan, Senior Vice President and Head of Products and Solutions for CEMEA at Visa, said the solution would provide financial institutions with additional flexibility in delivering payment and financial services to customers.
“Visa Flex Credential gives financial institutions a new way to deliver more flexible and effortless payment experiences to their customers.
“By enabling greater choice in how consumers pay, it can help deepen engagement, unlock new revenue opportunities and drive operational efficiencies,” Sullivan said.
He said Visa’s collaboration with ecosystem partners such as _able and Onafriq would enable issuers to explore new ways of broadening access to financial services.
Under the partnership, Onafriq will provide payment processing capabilities for eligible prepaid card implementations and connect participating institutions to its pan-African payments infrastructure.
Christian Bwakira, Group Chief Commercial Officer of Onafriq, said the initiative would support efforts to expand payment access and reduce barriers across African markets.
“Creating access and making borders matter less across Africa through payments is what our network is built for.
“Supporting Visa Flex on prepaid, powered by our proprietary companion card platform and integrated to _able, extends that reach to a new category of credit access,” Bwakira said.
He added that the solution could give consumers greater confidence in accessing credit and making payments, particularly in markets experiencing changing economic conditions.
The partners said financial institutions across CEMEA could explore opportunities to deploy Visa Flex Credential across their existing card portfolios using _able’s platform.
They added that the platform was designed to operate across multiple processing environments and could support the growth of Visa Flex Credential-enabled services in participating markets.
The partnership brings together Visa’s payments technology and global network, _able’s digital credit enablement infrastructure and Onafriq’s payment processing capabilities.
It is expected to support banks and other financial institutions in managing credit portfolios, risk, liquidity and customer growth while simplifying the deployment of digital financial services.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that access to debit and prepaid cards has expanded across many African markets, although access to formal credit products remains limited for many consumers.
The partners said the collaboration could enable issuers to leverage existing customer relationships and payment credentials to deliver additional financial services through familiar card-based experiences.
_able is headquartered in Dubai and operates an operational hub in Nairobi, a market and innovation hub in Dar es Salaam, and a technology and intelligence hub in Pune.
The company said it would continue to focus on bridging the gap between capital providers and distribution channels through technology designed to support responsible and scalable financial products.
