Fidelity Bank and Mastercard have launched 'Fidelity Send,' a cross-border payment solution tailored for individuals and businesses. Details about the cross-border payment solution 'Fidelity Send' Officials from Fidelity Bank stated that the initiative uses Mastercard's global network to simplify affordable outbound transactions, promoting financial inclusion within Nigeria.

They added that their customers can transfer money to e-wallets, accounts, and cards, and for cash pick-up. Fidelity Bank provides a diaspora banking package designed to cater to the financial requirements of Nigerians living abroad. Cross-border remittances remain pivotal in Africa's economy, with Sub-Saharan Africa experiencing a 1.90% increase in flows to USD 54 billion in 2023, where Nigeria contributes 38% of these remittances.

Projections for 2024 indicate a 2.5% rise in remittance flows to the region, offering promising prospects for businesses to diversify their offerings and access the expanding cross-border financial market. Nonetheless, challenges such as insufficient banking infrastructure, exorbitant fees, and lengthy processing times impede widespread adoption. Based on statements from Fidelity Bank representatives, partnering with Mastercard will address these challenges by providing a faster, more reliable, cost-effective, and transparent solution.

This solution offers lower fees, no landing fees, a wider range of management options, and guaranteed funds delivery, effectively meeting the evolving needs of customers. Cross-border payments in Africa In Africa, cross-border payments are predominantly initiated by individuals, micro- and small businesses (MSMEs), and small to medium traders for various purposes. These include transactions for ecommerce platforms, border trades/sales, SMB exports, remittances, gig payments, and supply chains.

The common types of cross-border payments involve P2P and C2C, C2B, B2C, and B2B transactions. The financial sector makes efforts to help cross-border payments and upgrade the industry for both consumers and businesses. Fintech firms have introduced innovations such as real-time payments, quicker processing times and lower fees, upgraded payment security, fraud prevention measures, upgraded payment infrastructure, increased interoperability among various financial systems, and minimised foreign exchange costs.

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