Yellow Card, a prominent fiat-to-crypto platform in Africa, has partnered with Lightspark to integrate Universal Money Address (UMA) into its ecosystem. The collaboration introduces UMA-enabled cross-border payments to 20 African countries via Yellow Card’s Payments API and Lightspark Extend. This partnership aims to offer businesses and individuals in Africa fast and cost-effective payment options, encompassing fiat, Bitcoin, and mobile money transactions.
The integration also facilitates instant and seamless money transfers across the UMA network. Users can use UMA, which functions similarly to an email address for financial transactions, to send and receive money globally. This advancement is poised to bridge the financial connectivity gap for African businesses and consumers while enhancing access to the broader digital economy.
Yellow Card Enhance Financial Inclusion Through Advanced Technology
Yellow Card offers secure on and off-ramps for cryptocurrencies. Through this partnership, its services are now supported by Lightspark Extend, enabling seamless connections between UMA users globally and businesses across Africa.
The collaboration supports various payout options, including bank transfers and mobile money, providing enhanced user flexibility. Its trading interface also includes highly volatile cryptocurrencies such as $BTC, $ETH, $USDT, $USDC, and $PYUSD. These features seek to increase the accessibility of digital payments to increase financial inclusion throughout the continent.
Commitment to Scalable and Open Payments
The introduction of UMA addresses is part of a broader commitment to open and scalable payment networks. This partnership allows African businesses and consumers to interact with millions of users on the UMA network worldwide. The integration is expected to go live in early 2025, as the African region steps up digital payment solutions.
Justin Poiroux, Chief Technology Officer at Yellow Card, emphasized the potential of this partnership in supporting financial access and digital asset adoption across Africa. Kevin Hurley, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Co-Founder of Lightspark has expressed confidence in the integration’s ability to provide instant and cost-effective Bitcoin transfers for UMA users.
Kevin Hurley has also highlighted the potential of UMAs to simplify and reduce the cost of Bitcoin transfers. Together, Yellow Card and Lightspark aim to revolutionize the digital payments landscape in Africa, driving broader adoption of decentralized financial systems.
