Block-owned decentralized identity startup TBD has formed a partnership with leading African fintech Chipper Cash.
Their goal? To facilitate low-cost business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) cross-border payments across 40 African countries.
This collaboration could prove transformative for the fintech landscape across the continent.
“Across Africa, the challenges of currency liquidity and access to global financial systems are palpable,” explained TBD CEO Mike Brock. “For these reasons, we are laser-focused on building out the tbDEX ecosystem in Africa.”
Chipper Cash has integrated with TBD’s open messaging protocol, tbDEX, unlocking cross-border payment capabilities and decentralized identity use cases. The initial focus will be on consumer remittances, with the aim of making them significantly faster and more affordable.
“Remittances are a lifeline for many African families, but the costs of sending money to the continent remain among the highest globally,” said Chipper Cash President and Co-founder Maijid Moujaled.
“By plugging into an open protocol like tbDEX with numerous network participants, we believe we can, collectively as an industry, drive down these high costs and facilitate remittances in a more efficient, transparent, and compliant manner.”
Empowering African SMBs Beyond remittances
TBD and Chipper Cash will explore innovative ways to empower underbanked small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) through digital payments across Africa.
Chipper Cash already enables local and cross-border payments for these businesses in 40 countries, which will now be facilitated by tbDEX.
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Chipper Cash will harness tbDEX to accelerate consumer and business identity verification and onboarding processes. This will be achieved through verifiable credentials and decentralized identifiers, enabling trusted and compliant transactions built on decentralized foundations.
TBD’s Vision and Origins
TBD, a subsidiary of Block (formerly Square), was co-founded by Jack Dorsey, who’s known for founding Twitter. The startup is pioneering a bold vision – a future where finance, data, and identity are decentralized, providing individuals greater control over their information instead of centralized institutions like banks.
As Brock articulated, “We never really thought about what it means to identify a person on the internet in a way that is portable and doesn’t require you to rely on a single private platform.”
By tapping into tbDEX’s open protocol, this groundbreaking partnership between TBD and Chipper Cash could revolutionize cross-border payments and digital identity management across Africa’s rapidly evolving fintech industry.
As financial barriers are overcome and decentralized solutions take root, a new era of affordable and accessible financial services may be ushered in for millions across the continent. The future of fintech in Africa looks set to be redefined through the powerful synergies of decentralization.
