Yellow Card

What Yellow Card does

Yellow Card is a B2B stablecoin and fiat payment infrastructure provider serving banks, corporates, fintechs, and crypto firms operating across emerging markets. Originally launched as a retail crypto on/off-ramp in Nigeria in 2019 and founded in 2016 by CEO Chris Maurice and CTO Justin Poiroux, the company announced the shutdown of its consumer mobile app effective January 1, 2026 and refocused exclusively on serving business clients with API-driven stablecoin and fiat rails.

The company's technology stack spans multi-chain stablecoin wallet infrastructure supporting 30+ blockchains (Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Stellar, Celo, TON, Base, Aptos, Tron, Cardano) with custodial and self-custody options, complemented by fiat payment rails covering 50+ local currencies, 90+ local bank accounts, and 30+ mobile money networks. Core products are organized into Digital Asset Infrastructure, Fiat Payment Infrastructure, a Treasury Portal for multi-wallet management, an embeddable Widget, and a Payments API Suite that exposes cross-border remittance, local-currency acceptance, supplier payouts, and a USD Stablecoin Savings API. Compliance infrastructure includes CASP/VASP licenses in South Africa, Botswana, Poland (EU), Switzerland, FinCEN registration in the US, ISO 27001, SOC 1, and SOC 2 certifications, and FATF Travel Rule compliance.

Yellow Card earns revenue primarily through transaction fees on stablecoin-to-fiat conversions, B2B cross-border settlement spreads, treasury management services, and API-based stablecoin infrastructure fees, all on quote-based enterprise pricing. The company has raised approximately $88 million in disclosed equity financing across three rounds (Series A $15M in 2021 led by Valar Ventures, Series B $40M in 2022 led by Polychain Capital, Series C $33M in 2024 led by Blockchain Capital). Strategic distribution partnerships with Visa (Visa Direct), Mastercard, Ripple, Circle (Circle Payment Network), Aptos Labs, and Thunes anchor its go-to-market, with ~30,000 B2B users on platform and a 200+ employee team operating across 20+ countries with reported expansion into Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Name

Yellow Card

Legal name

Yellow Card Financial Inc.

Website

https://yellowcard.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Yellow Card is a B2B stablecoin and fiat payment infrastructure provider serving banks, corporates, fintechs, and crypto firms across African and global emerging markets via multi-chain wallets, fiat rails, and a payments API, following its 2026 pivot from retail crypto exchange.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Transaction Fees (Conversion Spreads): Revenue generated from spreads on stablecoin-to-fiat conversions, currency exchange, and on/off-ramp transactions across 50+ currencies; pricing varies by currency pair, transaction volume, and payment method.
2. Cross-Border B2B Settlement Fees: Revenue from B2B cross-border payment settlement, treasury management services, and fiat rail infrastructure usage by banks, corporates, and fintechs.
3. Digital Asset Infrastructure / API Services: Revenue from custody, wallet-as-a-service, stablecoin yield on balances, and API-based stablecoin management services for enterprise clients.
4. Historical Retail Transaction Fees (Discontinued): Previously earned spreads of 1-3% plus payment method fees on retail crypto exchange transactions; retail business shut down January 1, 2026.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Yellow Card builds B2B stablecoin-powered payment infrastructure for emerging markets, providing on/off ramps between stablecoins (USDC, USDT, RLUSD) and local fiat currencies across 30+ blockchains and 50+ currencies. Its Digital Asset Infrastructure and Fiat Payment Infrastructure are exposed programmatically through the Payments API Suite and operated day-to-day via the Treasury Portal, with strategic integrations to Visa Direct and Mastercard. As of January 2026, the company operates exclusively as a B2B infrastructure provider following the shutdown of its retail consumer mobile app.

Product overview

Yellow Card operates a unified B2B Stablecoin payments infrastructure platform for emerging markets, composed of two complementary core pillars (Digital Asset Infrastructure and Fiat Payment Infrastructure) accessed through the Payments API Suite and operated day-to-day via the Treasury Portal. The Digital Asset Infrastructure handles wallet, custody, and on-chain stablecoin movement across 30+ blockchains; the Fiat Payment Infrastructure handles local-currency acceptance and payout in 50+ currencies with USD/EUR accounts; both are exposed programmatically through the Payments API Suite (with an add-on USD Stablecoin Savings API) and via the embeddable Yellow Card Widget for end-user transactions. Compliance, licensing, and licensing registration are managed in dedicated Legal/Trust Center assets. The platform additionally produces annual data and impact reports (e.g., 2026 Data Protection & AI Governance Report, 2025 Impact Report) as insight products for compliance teams.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Digital Asset Infrastructure Enterprise-grade Stablecoin infrastructure enabling B2B clients to send and receive Stablecoins across 30+ blockchains, create custodial and self-custody wallets and subwallets, launch custom local-currency Stablecoins, and earn yield on Stablecoin balances. Supports USDC, USDT, Tether Gold, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Stellar, Cardano, Polygon, Celo, TON, Base, and more.
• Fiat Payment Infrastructure Global fiat payments infrastructure enabling acceptance and payment in 50+ local currencies, Global USD/EUR payments across 195+ countries, virtual USD/EUR accounts with dedicated IBANs, and on/off-ramps for USDT, USDC and other Stablecoins via USD, NGN, AED, and 50+ currencies.
• Payments API Suite REST API providing end-user access to local fiat on/off-ramps, deep liquidity, and compliant treasury solutions. Enables cross-border remittances, local-currency acceptance payments, global supplier/invoice payouts, full digital wallet functionality, and the USD Stablecoin Savings API. Targets FinTechs, Banks, Corporates, Crypto firms, and TelCos.
• Treasury Portal B2B treasury management portal providing wallets (Send, Receive, Convert, Transaction Tracking, Team Controls) for managing multi-currency balances across 90+ local bank accounts and 30+ mobile money networks with Stablecoin and local fiat access. Features real-time transaction execution and rate locking for FX hedging.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduces cross-border transaction costs by 40-80% versus traditional correspondent banking
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration22 records

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• AXG (AX Coin subsidiary)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026Strategic partnership with Nasdaq-listed AXG and Bahrain-based BENEFIT, Gulf fintech INFINIOS, and Standard Chartered to capture $250T global cross-border payments market. Covers 20+ African countries via Yellow Card infrastructure.
• Standard CharteredcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026Strategic partnership for stablecoin-issuer AXG's cross-border payments initiative; benefits from Standard Chartered banking relationships alongside Yellow Card's African infrastructure.
• Stable AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 May 2026Joined the Stable Alliance to advance more efficient cross-border settlement between Africa and APAC.
• MastercardflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 May 2026Strategic partnership announced May 2026 to develop stablecoin-powered cross-border payments across EEMEA region (Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa). Initial focus markets: Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, UAE. Four key verticals: cross-border remittances, B2B settlement, digital loyalty ecosystems, treasury management. Combines Mastercard's Crypto Credential compliance framework with Yellow Card's licensed African infrastructure.
• ThunescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 October 2025Strategic partnership to promote stablecoin adoption and improve cross-border payment efficiency in emerging markets. Addresses high transfer costs and limited banking access; supports financial inclusion using blockchain technology.
• Ripple (Absa Bank Custody)coreTechnology or Integration · 30 September 2025Ripple partnered with Absa Bank for digital asset custody in South Africa as part of broader African expansion that also covers Yellow Card. RLUSD ecosystem integration.
• RippleflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 September 2025Partnership to deploy Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin in Africa; targets currency instability and high cross-border payment costs in region. Part of broader strategy integrating Ripple's RLUSD, Ripple Payments network, and XRP Ledger with African fintech infrastructure.
• Aptos LabscoreTechnology or Integration · 5 September 2025Launched instant gas-sponsored stablecoin transfers across 20 African countries, enabling USDT and USDC transfers with sub-second finality and zero gas fees. Targets financial inclusion by eliminating transaction costs.
• VisaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 June 2025Strategic partnership to expand Visa's stablecoin settlement solution into African markets; integrates Yellow Card's stablecoin cross-border infrastructure with Visa Direct. Initial pilots in Botswana, South Africa, and Zambia. Enables businesses on Visa's network to hold USD liquidity in stablecoin form to reduce FX risk.
• Circle (Circle Payment Network)flagshipTechnology or Integration · 24 April 2025Founding partner of Circle's Circle Payment Network (CPN) for stablecoin-based cross-border settlement. Inaugural rollout May 2025 alongside Flutterwave and Onafriq. CPN converts fiat to USDC stablecoins, processes via smart contracts, converts back to fiat for end users.
• CentiminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 12 March 2025Partnership with Swiss fintech Centi to enable cheaper cross-border remittances from Europe to 20 African countries. Transfers cost as little as CHF 2 vs traditional methods' CHF 15.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Bitnob: Bitnob is an African-focused stablecoin and B2B remittance platform offering crypto on/off ramps across Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and Uganda. Direct competitor with overlapping product suite (wallets, on/off ramps, business APIs) targeting the same emerging-market B2B customers.
• MoonPay: MoonPay is a global crypto on/off ramp serving 160+ countries with fiat-to-crypto purchases, NFT checkout, and Web3 authentication. Direct competitor offering the same core crypto on-ramp functionality to a global customer base with growing emerging-market presence.
• Chipper Cash: Chipper Cash is a pan-African remittance and payments platform serving cross-border payments across 20+ African countries. Direct competitor in African cross-border remittances and a Ripple RLUSD partner that intersects with Yellow Card's corridors.
• Onafriq: Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa) is a pan-African digital payments hub connecting 500+ mobile wallets and 200+ banks across 40+ African countries. Direct competitor in African payments infrastructure and a Circle Payment Network partner with overlapping target customers.
• Thunes: Thunes is a global cross-border payments network enabling real-time payments across 130+ countries with deep emerging-market reach. Direct competitor in B2B cross-border payments infrastructure and Yellow Card's announced strategic partner.

Emerging players

• Kotani Pay: Kotani Pay is an African blockchain fintech offering crypto and stablecoin on/off ramps via local mobile money in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. Emerging African on/off ramp player with meaningful overlap in the same local-fiat-to-stablecoin corridor problem Yellow Card solves.

Broad incumbents

• Flutterwave: Flutterwave is a leading pan-African payments technology company enabling businesses to accept and disburse payments across 30+ African countries. Larger incumbent in African payments processing and a fellow Circle Payment Network partner competing for the same B2B enterprise customers.
• Paystack: Paystack is a Nigerian payments gateway enabling online and offline payment acceptance, owned by Stripe since 2020. Larger incumbent in African online payments and a competitor for B2B payment volume originating in Yellow Card's original launch market.

Others

• Circle: Circle is the issuer of USDC stablecoin and operator of the Circle Payment Network (CPN) for stablecoin-based cross-border settlement. Complementary partner and ecosystem enabler (Yellow Card is a CPN founding partner) rather than a direct competitor — though Circle's growing infrastructure ambitions create an adjacent ecosystem dependency.
• Tether: Tether is the issuer of USDT, the largest stablecoin by market capitalization and the most-traded stablecoin across Yellow Card's African corridors. Complementary ecosystem dependency rather than direct competitor — Yellow Card routes USDT flows across multiple supported blockchains.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/yellowcard_app
• Facebookfacebook.com/yellowcardapp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yellowcardapp
• Instagraminstagram.com/yellowcard_app

Compliance11 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors26 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Yellow Card