Pesalink wants to be Kenya’s “digital payments rail.” Can it pull it off?
Sending money in Kenya is still more complicated than it looks. A payment that starts in a bank account often transfers through a mobile wallet before reaching a merchant, with each leg taking a fee, and each system jealously guarding its own rails. Commercial banks’ answer has been Pesalink, an instant transfer platform that promises to cut out those detours. But eight years after launch, its ability to simplify Kenya’s payments landscape depends less on technology than on politics. Wider ambition? When the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) launched Pesalink in 2017, the aim was to enable customers to transfer money between banks instantly, without the delays and charges associated with traditional interbank transfers. At the time, the only way to move money digitally between financial institutions was through electronic funds transfer (EFT) or real-time gross settlement (RTGS)—systems that were clunky, slow, and unsuitable for retail use. “Before PesaLink came about, the only ways you could move money between banks digitally were EFT or RTGS — neither of which are real-time,” recalls Gituku Kirika, CEO of Integrated Payments Services Ltd (IPSL), the company that owns and runs Pesalink. Since its launch, Pesalink has worked largely as a back-office convenience, a utility for the banking sector rather than a household name. But the payments landscape around it has shifted rapidly. M-Pesa has become Kenya’s dominant channel, processing an estimated KES 8 trillion ($61.9 billion) a year, while Airtel Money, Telkom’s T-Kash, and a growing roster of fintech wallets are racing to claw out niches. As of 2024, Kenya had 73 million registered mobile money accounts — and a deeply fragmented ecosystem. Banks, fintechs, and Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) each maintain their own networks, agents are duplicated, and merchants must juggle multiple systems. “You go to a pharmacy in Nairobi and you find they’ve been signed up by five different entities,” says Kirika. “That’s duplication of effort, duplication of technology, and time-consuming for the owner. One shared agent infrastructure would cut those inefficiencies.” Kirika says Pesalink’s leadership is pushing to reposition the platform as the shared infrastructure that links banks, mobile money wallets, SACCOs, and fintechs into one interoperable payment ecosystem. “Our role is to reduce friction in payments,” he says. “That means building rails that everyone can ride on — not just banks.” Global trends Globally, the trend is toward open, centralised rails. India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has become the benchmark of a government-backed platform. In August, it processed over 12 billion transactions, surpassing the total volume of card payments in the US for that same month. Nigeria’s NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP) now underpins over 90% of bank-to-bank transfers in Africa’s fourth biggest economy. Both systems have scaled by offering a single integration point for all players and reducing transaction costs through sheer volume. Kirika believes Kenya’s version of UPI or NIBSS could be Pesalink. The comparisons flatter Pesalink but also expose its weaknesses. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has outlined a National Payments Strategy and consulted on a fast payments system. But unlike India or Nigeria, it has stopped short of mandating a single national switch. Pesalink is still wholly owned by the KBA. “World over, the rule is that the governance — that’s the decision-making, the shareholding — should be representative of the payment participants,” Kirika explains. “It’s something we would definitely need to look into.” That governance gap shapes perceptions. Fintechs and other wallets worry about plugging into a system run by their competitors. The regulator, meanwhile, is balancing the desire for lower costs and interoperability with concerns about competition from a bank-dominated switch. Kirika says IPSL is in “constant” dialogue with the CBK as it reviews the National Payments System Act and rolls out its consumer protection framework. Hop-step-jump Pesalink aims to streamline the payment process for the majority of users with multiple accounts, eliminating the need for multiple layers. Because transactions do not have to “hop” from bank to mobile wallet to merchant, fees can be lower. “Today, for example, you find wallet providers where if you need to move money to a bank, it moves from the wallet provider to the mobile money wallet, from there to the bank. That’s a hop. There’s a cost to it,” Kirika says. “By opening up ecosystems, we reduce the costs that have been passed on to payment participants. You’d hope then that would translate to lower costs for consumers.” Each hop adds friction for businesses and consumers. The company promises fewer hops and lower wholesale costs, which could in turn drive down retail fees. But it does not set consumer pricing — that is left to banks and wallets. Much will depend on whether they see volume growth as worth lowering their margins. In theory, the economics are compelling for most small players. Today, a fintech launching in Kenya must negotiate separately with banks and telcos, each integration carrying technical and commercial costs. By offering a one-stop gateway, Pesalink cuts entry barriers, which can be passed to consumers as lower fees. Pesalink already connects 80 service providers, including all major banks and several SACCOs. Talks are underway with Safaricom and Airtel to bring their wallets fully on board. However, if the platform can prove itself at the merchant and agent level, it could gain real traction. While CBK has been discussing agent interoperability, little progress has been made as dominant players have pushed back. This would allow one agent to serve all the banks on a single system rather than each bank or telco recruiting the same chemist or kiosk multiple times. If successful, the prize could be a seamless system where a customer can walk into any agent — bank, telco, or SACCO — and transact without worrying whose sign hangs above the door. Other African markets are experimenting along similar lines. Uganda’s banks formed the Agent Banking Company in 2018, creating a shared agent network now numbering over 20,000 outlets. In Ghana, the GhIPSS (Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems) switch enables wallet-to-bank
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Car washers in South Africa’s biggest cities can now receive instant digital payments
Street Wallet, a South African cashless payment fintech, has partnered with Plush Car Wash, a popular car care brand, to introduce digital payments to informal car washers in Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg. Through this partnership, Street Wallet will embed its payment system into Plush’s network of informal car washers, many of whom are unbanked or underbanked, a way to receive instant device-free payments. In South Africa, where over 40% of working-age citizens are unemployed or discouraged from seeking work, the streets have become the country’s largest informal economy hub. For thousands of workers who survive on car washing and other street-level services, this partnership signals a shift that cash-heavy, insecure transactions are giving way to digital payments that do not require smartphones or bank accounts. Using Street Wallet’s QR code payment, mobile washers wear a card around their neck, customers scan it using familiar platforms like SnapScan, Zapper, Apple Pay, or Samsung Pay, and vendors receive earnings via Standard Bank Instant Money Vouchers, redeemable at ATMs or retailers. Unlike SnapScan or Ozow, Street Wallet does not require vendors to own a smartphone or bank account. That’s a game-changer for car guards, dry washers, and other informal workers operating in high-footfall zones. “Our teams operate in high-footfall zones where speed and ease matter. Street Wallet gives us a flexible, secure system that benefits both staff and customers,” said Plush CEO Neil Meyerowitz. While Street Wallet already has a strong footprint in Cape Town and Durban, this partnership strengthens the Johannesburg market, a city with the highest concentration and proportion of informal workers after Durban. “This partnership shows how digital convenience can meet everyday services, securely, simply, and inclusively,” said Street Wallet CEO Kosta Scholiadis. The partnership follows Street Wallet’s $350,000 raise in August at a $2 million valuation, aimed at scaling its reach across South Africa’s informal economy. The startup also acquired Digitip, a QR code payment digital tipping startup, to consolidate its tech stack and accelerate merchant onboarding. Scholiadis noted that Street Wallet is betting that the future of fintech lies not just in apps, but in accessible, device-free solutions that meet people where they are. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Meet and learn from Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Get your tickets now: moonshot.techcabal.com
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Pesalink eyes premium payments market with Cellulant integration
Pesalink, Kenya’s interbank money transfer platform, is linking its network with Cellulant, a pan-African fintech, through Tingg, its digital payments platform for businesses. The link will make it easier for online merchants to accept high-value customer-to-business (C2B) payments. The alliance immediately expands Pesalink’s reach into the digital commerce sector by providing merchants direct access to millions of bank customers while addressing critical reconciliation and delay friction points in digital transactions. It is a decisive strategic manoeuvre by Pesalink to capture a larger share of Kenya’s digital commerce market, an area historically dominated by mobile money ecosystems. Pesalink is also positioning itself as the preferred, high-value infrastructure for real-time transactions by taking advantage of Cellulant’s established merchant base. Under the new arrangement, consumers purchasing from Cellulant merchants can make instant payments up to KES 999,999 ($7,700) per transaction directly from their bank accounts. This high cap exceeds the typical mobile money limit of KES 500,000 ($3,900), positioning the partnership to capture larger commerce volumes. A core benefit for businesses is improved operational efficiency because every payment carries a reliable reference number for instant reconciliation and faster settlement. The service is already live for businesses in the airline and travel sectors. This renewed strategic focus signals the banking sector’s intent to reinforce its existing infrastructure. The strategy counters earlier proposals from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to build an entirely new fast payment system, a plan opposed by banks who favour upgrading the existing Pesalink system. Pesalink has previously faced limitations integrating with mobile money wallets, a structural weakness it is actively addressing through recent partnerships, including a focus on enhancing bulk payments for small enterprises. It recently extended this integration with M-PESA and TendePay. Kenya’s digital payments market is projected to reach $9.36 billion by 2025, according to industry estimates. The tie-up positions Pesalink and Cellulant to compete for a larger slice of those flows, especially in high-value segments where banks see an edge over mobile money. Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is back in Lagos on October 15–16! Meet and learn from Africa’s top founders, creatives & tech leaders for 2 days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward ideas. Get your tickets now: moonshot.techcabal.com
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What developers, startups, and users will gain with Base and Solana bridge
On September 15, Base, the layer-2 (L2) blockchain owned by US crypto firm Coinbase, announced an open-source bridge that connects its network to Solana, the layer-1 (L1) network. The bridge, which is currently being tested and will be live in a “few weeks,” will allow crypto tokens to move directly between the two blockchains without routing through an exchange, reducing the risk of lost funds and expanding access for users and startups. Base has grown rapidly in 2025, with total value locked (TVL) reaching $5 billion and a stablecoin supply of $4.5 billion. Solana remains one of the largest blockchain networks in crypto, recording 2.2 million daily active wallets in Q1 2025, up 60% year-over-year (YoY), and a peak of 120 million monthly active addresses in 2024. Between them, Base and Solana handle more than $220 billion in crypto trades every month, driven by Solana’s high throughput and dominance in trading and Base’s growing on-chain activity. A bridge between the two blockchains will expand liquidity access, making it easier for users, traders, and developers to move crypto assets and participate in markets across both networks. 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But sending tokens directly across the two blockchains without a bridge—for example, transferring USDC from a Solana wallet straight to a Base address—would result in permanent loss of funds. The bridge solves that problem by locking assets on one side and issuing equivalent assets on the other. The process ensures asset transfers between Solana and Base become homogeneous. David Salami, CTO of Hyperbridge, a blockchain interoperability protocol built by Polytope Labs, said the move also highlights a deeper issue in bridging systems. “Trusted bridges like LayerZero and Wormhole rely on multisignatures or custodians, which means users must depend on a third party for security,” said Salami. “In a highly adversarial environment like crypto, that model does not scale. Coinbase [Base] built its own bridge because it did not want to entrust user funds to someone else’s system.” It remains unclear whether Base’s new bridge will be fully trustless, meaning one that verifies transactions directly on-chain without relying on third-party custodians or multisignature signers. Base has not released full technical details, and the code is still in testnet. That leaves open the question of how much users will need to trust intermediaries in the bridge’s design. What changes for startups and users Liquidity is the immediate prize. Liquidity refers to the pool of money in the system. Larger pools lead to steadier prices and lower costs for trading. By connecting Base and Solana, the bridge combines two markets, making it easier for exchanges, traders, and market makers to operate at scale. Cross-chain transaction volume surged from $18.6 billion in September 2024 to $50 billion by November 2024, a 188% increase, and has remained steady in 2025. Average fees on existing trusted third-party Solana bridges, including Base’s, cost up to 0.2% per transaction, but well below traditional exchange costs. “Base wants Solana traders to be able to trade on Base too,” said Divinegift Soetan, founder of Importa, a Nigerian social commerce platform built on Base. “That brings liquidity into Base. It matters most for products
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