NALA integrates with Apple Pay

By allowing its African diaspora users to make local payments directly, NALA, a Tanzanian-born fintech business with increasing domination in East Africa, made a noteworthy move in the continent’s fintech industry. Customers of the fintech can now use Apple Pay to make payments from the US and the UK.

NALA’s goal to facilitate frictionless and “lightning-fast payments” to Africa is further reiterated by this most recent connection with the global payment provider Apple Pay. The mobile payment service Apple Pay was created by Apple Inc. It digitises card transactions and is designed for contactless in-store transactions. With over 45 million users in the US alone, the payment service is widely used in nations where NALA’s users are located, including the US and the UK.

NALA’s integration with Apple Pay comes seven months after the African fintech company formally kickstarted operations in the US at a gathering in New York that six Tanzanian lawmakers attended.

NALA’s founder and CEO, Benjamin Fernandes, commented on the integration by saying that NALA’s actions are intended to link Africa with international payment solutions while constructing a strong financial infrastructure for Africans.

“NALA’s mission is to increase economic opportunities for Africans globally, enabling Apple Pay is a step towards connecting more global payment options with Africa. This reach allows us to build stronger financial infrastructure for Africans worldwide,” he said in a statement.

Customers of NALA in the US and UK can use the NALA app’s Apple Pay functionality to make payments to more than 300 banks and 20 mobile money providers in Africa.

Only a select few African fintech companies, like Paystack in Nigeria and Peach Payments in South Africa, have so far been able to include Apple Pay in their offerings. The unicorn fintech company from Nigeria, Flutterwave, declared in February that it would add Apple Pay support to its range of payment methods. However, that feature has not yet been released.