Subject: NEW PRODUCTS/SERVICES
BlocPal International and PayPassage To Launch A Financial Services Marketplace In Nigeria As Africa Is The Next Frontier in Fintech
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BlocPal International Inc., a leading digital transaction platform whose mission is to improve the affordability and accessibility of financial products and services, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with its majority-owned Nigerian subsidiary, PayPassage. The intent is to leverage BlocPal's powerful platform to drive financial inclusion in Nigeria.
Currently, Nigeria is one of the top three unbanked countries globally, with almost half (45 percent) of Nigerian adults having no access to a bank account.1 Out of the 59 million unbanked adults, 73 percent do not have the required documents to open a tier 3 bank account.2 This current financial landscape is expected to be a significant opportunity for BlocPal and PayPassage to uplift and integrate financial services in Nigeria. With BlocPal anticipating to drive financial inclusion to unbanked and underserved populations in India, Mexico, and Indigenous communities in Canada, PayPassage marks BlocPal's first launch in Africa which positions BlocPal to become a leading provider of accessible financial solutions in Nigeria and globally in underserved markets.
"There has been a strong need for offering affordable and accessible financial solutions in Nigeria through a retailer-enabled digital platform," says Folarin Tomori, CEO of PayPassage. "Partnering with BlocPal to bring these financial solutions into Nigeria is not only expected to drive financial inclusion but also provide the opportunity for the Nigerian population to participate in the global digital economy."
BlocPal is leveraging the advanced technology and proven business model it has used in India with mBnk. This same marketplace is expected to offer mobile financial services through physical on-the-ground retailers in Nigeria to help drive financial inclusion in Nigeria's communities. This solution is intended to provide a range of mobile financial solutions, including the ability to deposit and withdraw funds, execute domestic money transfers, purchase prepaid credit cards, micro-loans, savings plans, and mobile and wallet recharges. This marketplace is expected to enable a one-stop solution for the broader community in Nigeria, allowing them to access a range of financial solutions, with the opportunity to expand product offerings in the future.
"What makes BlocPal so unique is the ability to scale our platform to different geographies while adhering to customer needs and regulatory requirements," says Nick Mellios, CEO of BlocPal. "We are excited to leverage our insights and experience from our India operations and bring our advanced technology to Nigeria. We are committed to partnering with retailers in Nigeria and providing a wide variety of affordable financial solutions to communities all across the country."
With 89 percent of the Nigerian population already having access to borrow or own a phone,3 Nigeria is ripe for the financial integration that BlocPal and PayPassage can bring. BlocPal offers unique accessibility and scalable infrastructure to integrate into the Nigerian economy easily. Leveraging this technology, BlocPal and PayPassage believes that it can bring these solutions into other countries in Africa by delivering digital payment processing and fintech services to help enterprise partners reduce transaction costs, create new revenue streams, and build more loyal relationships with its customers. PayPassage is in the process of reviewing the regulatory requirements applicable to its proposed activities in Nigeria and intends to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals or licenses before commencing such activities.
This new market launch with PayPassage marks BlocPal's third significant partner activation in 2021.
About BlocPal
BlocPal's vision is to provide the world a simple, fast, and secure digital transaction platform that allows anyone to transact in their currency or asset of choice. An emerging leader in the digital economy, BlocPal empowers consumers, merchants, and enterprise customers to actively participate in an evolving digital economy, which includes both fiat and as regulations permit cryptocurrencies. With its suite of applications, BlocPal's ecosystem supports a range of solutions via integrated APIs, point-of-sale, e-commerce, white-label enterprise solutions, loyalty rewards, financial network integrations and robust consumer digital wallets.
About PayPassage
PayPassage's vision is to provide a seamless, fast, simple and secure digital payment experience across industries and consumer segments, with the intention of empowering consumers, merchants, and enterprise partners. PayPassage provides a suite of services that will not only drive financial inclusion but provide more opportunities to the African population to participate in the global digital economy. PayPassage leverages BlocPal's technology to uplift and integrate financial services in Africa, building on their experience in India, Mexico, and Canada. This Partnership is expected to position PayPassage as one of the leading financial solutions providers in Africa.
Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of BlocPal and Pay Passage to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to our expectations with respect to: the anticipated introduction and timing of the launch of the PayPassage platform in Nigeria, the ability to integrate financial services in Nigeria in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements, and that the BlocPal Platform is expected to result in the inclusion of unbanked and underserved populations and to offer a one-stop solution. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including that BlocPal is an early market and development stage company which attracts certain unique risks, it operates in an industry with significant competition and low barriers to entry, we rely on information technology systems and any weakness, disruption or failure in such system, or breach of data, could adversely affect our operations and reputation, the international markets in which we operate are very competitive and our growth strategy depends on our ability to compete effectively, our operations depend on the accuracy and completeness of information we obtain about merchants, customers and counterparties which, if inaccurate or are materially misleading, could adversely affect our business and results of operations, the company faces several regulatory risks and uncertainties and is operating in an environment where regulations applicable to financial technology companies and related applications continue to evolve, we face unique risks integrating our applications with third-party software, we have a lack of operating history, the Covid-19 pandemic has had an may continue to have certain adverse effects on our business, operations, cash flows and financial condition, we undertake fee and commission based activities and our financial performance may be adversely affected by an inability to generate income from such activities. Although BlocPal and PayPassage believe that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information or forward-looking statements in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and BlocPal and PayPassage do not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking information or forward-looking information to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities law.
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1 EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2020 Survey, June 3, 2021
2 EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2020 Survey, June 3, 2021
3 https://a2f.ng/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/A2F-2020-Final-Report.pdf
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