Copia Global and Visa’s Ambitious 5-Year Plan for Financial Empowerment

•  Copia Global has officially announced a five-year partnership with global digital payment provider Visa.
•  Copia Global is a Business-to-Customer(B2C) platform allowing customers to order goods through mobile technologies, agents, and logistics channels.
•  Since its founding, the organization has raised $83.5 million via Series funding. 

Web3 has played a significant role in Africa’s digital transformation. Its fundamental technology, blockchain, has become the building block of two core economic activities within Africa: Fintech and E-commerce. During the COVID period, to ensure business continuity, many organizations turned to E-commerce platforms, increasing the scale of their reachability.

During this period, fintech organizations provided a means for individuals and organizations to transact beyond Africa’s borders without the complexities of traditional banking systems. Combining these two industries has developed a form of mutualism. E-commerce utilizes several Internet services, allowing users to send and receive payments regardless of geographic location, while fine organization showcases their fast services via their platform. As a result, both these economic activities have significantly grown in the past decade.

In recent developments, Kenyan E-commerce and Fintech startup Copia Global has officially announced a five-year partnership with global digital payment provider Visa. Through this new milestone, Africa’s fintech and e-commerce industries have come closer to dominating the continent’s economic structure.

Who is Copia Global

Kenya has been a longstanding icon amid Africa’s digital transformations. The region has appeared numerous when discussing any improvement on Africa’s web3 ecosystem. Flutterwave, Africa’s top fintech organization, recently classified the region as East Africa’s leading tech hub. The nation houses numerous Web3 achievements stretching from its vast crypto trading volume to its plethora of blockchain-based organizations. Its fintech industry has also received substantial recognition, showcasing the region’s vast potential. 

Among its numerous web3-based platforms is Copia Global, an E-commerce and fintech startup offering B2C services. In 2013, Tracey Turner and Jonathan Lewis founded Copia, becoming one of the founding pioneers of Kenya’s esteemed E-commerce and fintech industry. 

At its core, Copia Global is a Business-to-Customer(B2C) platform allowing customers to order goods through its mobile technologies, agents, and logistics channels. Its years of services and technological advancement have garnered quite a regional network. Currently, the Kenyan e-commerce platform uses a network of over 50,000 street shops in small towns and semi-rural areas in Kenya to distribute its products and services. 

Also, Read Ripple Empowers Onafriq Fintech: Unleashing Cross-Border Payment Capabilities Across Africa.

The organization’s forward-thinking in developing Kenya’s E-commerce platform years before its recent boom caught the eye of many investors. Since its founding, the organization has raised $83.5 million via Series funding. Top corporates like Zebu Investment Partners, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Koa Labs, Lightrock, German development finance institution DEG, and Perivoli Innovations have each played a crucial role in promoting the organization’s journey.

 Copia Global has grown its network by recruiting small business owners with firm customer-business relationships.[Photo/Medium]

CEO Tim Steel once commented, “The whole premise of Copia Global was to find a sustainable and profitable solution to serve consumers so that we could improve their quality of life and that of their families.“

The Kenyan E-Commerce platform has grown its network by recruiting small business owners with firm customer-business relationships. The owners wear branded Copia Uniforms and advertise the medium to customers within their community. This eventually paid off, growing its user base to its current size. 

According to its CEO, “Copia’s value proposition is solid with goods not generally available in proximity to the average consumer. On average, rural Kenyans spend over an hour and $4 per commute to buy such goods. But with Copia Global, for instance, 20 customers within a particular location can make various orders, and the company will deliver them to its agents, whose shops and stores are close to customers in that location.“

Copia Global signs up with Visa.

Copia’s growing network and rudimentary marketing strategy have recently caught the eye of Visa. The global payment services provider has recently expanded its services to accommodate fintech and web3 features, ushering in a new age of financial inclusion. Copia Global has garnered attention, resulting in a 5-year partnership with Visa. In addition, the collaboration will also extend Visa’s reach throughout Kenya.

According to the official announcement, the partnership will also include a digital wallet bridging the shopping and financial services of the Kenyan e-commerce platform. Copia’s super app offers limited services like shopping, payment gateways, and other financial services like loans.

With Visa, Copia Global will have features allowing customers to fund their digital wallet, shop for household goods, and pay flexibly. This also includes several financial services like a “Buy Now Pay Later” credit and a “Save Now Buy Later” savings feature. In addition, customers can now build a credit score and benefit from the additional perks of Visa’s loyalty services.

Also, Read Jia Fintech, an Africa- and Asia-focused fintech company, has raised a $4.3 million seed fund.

Visa has announced it will enable diaspora natives to remit funds directly into the Copia wallet to access essential goods and services. Evelyn Wangari, Director of Financial Services, Copia Global, said, “The partnership and rapid digitization of customers creates a huge opportunity for Copia and Visa to bank the unbanked with previously inaccessible financial services, solving financial inclusion for the mass market in Africa.“

Eva Ngigi-Sarwari, Visa Kenya Country Manager, commented, “Copia’s e-commerce platform provides the perfect springboard for Visa to bring financial services to the mass market. Copia’s network of customers, agents, and delivery sub-contractors will benefit from Visa’s capabilities on contactless payments, remittances, and loyalty solutions.“

This partnership will essentially propel Copia’s service to new heights. In addition, if it succeeds, it could open a new market for the Kenyan E-commerce startup. Tim elaborated, “Our partnership with Visa will impact millions of lives by providing unparalleled access to digital financial services and fulfills Copia’s ambition to be a one-stop shop for all underserved customers in Africa.”

This new milestone may transform and reshape Africa’s stance on the global digital financial industry.

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• Source: https://web3africa.news/2023/12/18/news/copia-global-visa-partnership/