Afriex, the cross-border payments infrastructure company processing more than $600 million in annual payment volume, has entered a new sponsor and settlement banking partnership with Global Innovations Bank (GIB), deepening the banking backbone behind its business payments platform.
What the Partnership Covers
The relationship strengthens the banking infrastructure behind Afriex’s B2B PaymentsAPI, enabling faster settlement, expanded regulatory support, and Global USD Account access for businesses moving money across more than 35 countries. The partnership is effective from the second quarter of 2026 and is expected to introduce additional treasury and foreign exchange services going forward.
Originally founded as a consumer remittance company, Afriex has evolved into a global payments infrastructure platform powering cross-border payouts for remittance providers, payroll companies, ecommerce platforms, fintechs, banks, and other financial institutions. Its API combines licensed local payment rails with global banking connectivity, letting businesses launch and scale international payment products without building local infrastructure themselves.
Building Out a Banking Network
The GIB relationship is the latest milestone in Afriex’s strategy of building a global banking network that combines local market expertise with international settlement capabilities. Alongside GIB, Afriex already works with banking partners including Choice Bank in Kenya and United Bank for Africa (UBA) in Nigeria, part of the regulated financial infrastructure enabling businesses to move money across emerging markets.
As demand for reliable cross-border payment infrastructure grows, the company frames resilient banking relationships as essential to delivering faster, compliant, and scalable money movement, and says it will continue expanding this network to support its licensed payment operations.
Why This Matters for African Businesses
For African fintechs, payroll platforms, and ecommerce businesses that rely on Afriex’s rails to move money internationally, a stronger settlement banking relationship generally translates into faster payouts and fewer delays when funds cross borders; a persistent pain point for companies operating across multiple African currencies and jurisdictions.
The UBA partnership in Nigeria is particularly relevant to the local market: it gives Afriex a licensed local banking anchor for one of Africa’s largest and most demanding payments corridors, where regulatory compliance and naira liquidity have historically been obstacles for cross-border fintechs.
