PalmPay, a UK-based mobile payments services provider targeting African markets, has emerged from stealth with $40m in seed funding from investors led by phone manufacturer Transsion, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday.
Transsion participated through its sub-brand Tecno and was joined by internet company NetEase and fabless semiconductor producer MediaTek.
PalmPay offers a smartphone app that acts as a mobile wallet equipped with access to additional financial services including no-fee installment plans, bill payments and loyalty rewards.
The app is now officially live in Nigeria having been piloted there since July 2019, and PalmPay will use the seed money to roll out an equivalent in Ghana, funding recruitment in both countries.
PalmPay will also benefit from a strategic alliance with Transsion under which its app will be pre-installed on 20 million handsets – under the Tecno, Infinix and Itel brands – in 2020.
Many Africans struggle to access traditional banking services, making mobile payments an area of strategic interest to Transsion, which reportedly leads Africa’s smartphone market in terms of product sales.