PayPal Holdings Inc is in discussions with several African fintech companies ahead of a planned 2026 launch of PayPal World, a cross-border digital wallet layer designed to operate on top of existing local wallets.
The US-based global payments company provides digital payment and wallet services to consumers and merchants worldwide, with a strategic emphasis on cross-border commerce and online payments.
Under the proposed model, PayPal World would integrate directly with wallets already used by African consumers, rather than requiring users to open standalone PayPal accounts, according to people familiar with the discussions.
The initiative aims to enable seamless wallet-to-wallet cross-border payments and improve interoperability across Africa’s fragmented digital payments landscape, where mobile money operators and local fintech platforms dominate but remain largely siloed along national lines.
Africa’s payments ecosystem is led by mobile money operators and regulated local wallets that have achieved deep domestic penetration but continue to face structural barriers to scaling cross-border services—particularly for remittances, e-commerce, and SME trade payments.
By positioning PayPal World as an overlay rather than a replacement, PayPal could reduce regulatory friction by integrating with licensed local providers, leaving KYC, consumer protection, and domestic compliance responsibilities with in-market partners.
The move would place PayPal alongside other global payments firms seeking deeper integration with African wallet infrastructure, as cross-border payment volumes grow while costs remain among the highest globally, according to multilateral data.
PayPal has not disclosed which African fintechs it is engaging with, nor provided details on pilot markets, fee structures, or regulatory timelines ahead of the targeted 2026 launch.
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