Bani

What Bani does

Bani Inc. is a US-incorporated, Nairobi-headquartered fintech operating a cross-border payments infrastructure platform targeted at African businesses engaged in intra-African and global trade. The company provides a cloud-based API, virtual accounts, payment links, and an e-wallet supporting local currency rails (NGN, GHS, KES, XOF, SLE and more) across 16 African countries, combined with stablecoin settlement for minute-level cross-border settlement. Claims include sub-15-minute transaction processing, instant confirmation, and up to 25% cost savings versus traditional correspondent banking.

The core product portfolio consists of Virtual Accounts (multi-bank routing for local currency collections with instant payment notification), Payment Links (shareable URLs for contactless collection), and an E-Wallet (digital wallet supporting fiat and stablecoins), all underpinned by a REST API and SDKs for React, React Native, Flutter, WooCommerce, and Odoo. An industry-specific 'Bani for Retail Stores' module adds invoicing, multi-branch management, and reconciliation dashboards for retail merchants.

Bani operates an API-first go-to-market complemented by direct enterprise sales (Calendly scheduling), charging transaction fees for cross-border payment processing on a pay-as-you-go basis. The company serves 200+ businesses across SMB and enterprise segments spanning retail, fintech, e-commerce, healthcare, restaurant, travel, and digital creator verticals. In April 2026, Bani was selected for Google for Startups Accelerator Africa Class 10 (one of 15 from ~2,600 applicants, less than 1% acceptance rate), receiving mentorship and AI/ML workshop access. The company is privately held with minimal disclosed external capital (a 2022 round listing Microtraction as an investor).

Name

Bani

Legal name

Bani Inc.

Website

https://bani.africa

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Bani Inc. is a Nairobi-based, US-incorporated fintech that provides a cross-border payments API, virtual accounts, payment links, and e-wallet infrastructure for African businesses, supporting local currency rails and stablecoin settlement across 16 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cross-Border Payment Infrastructure

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)

akta.pro primary industry

Crypto Payments & Stablecoin Settlement Platforms (BPAMAFAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Enterprise Payments & Tokenized Money (stablecoins, tokenized deposits, CBDC rails) (FSAPAIAJ), Cross-Border A2A & Bank Transfer Networks (FSAMAIAF), Crypto Remittance & Cross-Border Money Transfer Providers (FSADAIAD)

Keywords

• Cross-border payments
• Payment infrastructure
• Virtual accounts
• African fintech API
• Stablecoin settlement

Headquarters

HQ city

Nairobi

HQ country

Kenya

HQ region

Africa

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Cross-border Transaction Fees: Bani charges transaction fees for processing cross-border payments across African markets, with claimed cost savings of up to 25% compared to traditional banks. The company offers pocket-friendly pricing for virtual accounts, e-wallets, and payment links.
2. Payment Processing Services: Revenue generated from processing payments through virtual accounts, payment links, and multi-collection channels across supported currencies and countries.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Bani operates a cloud-based payment infrastructure platform that enables African businesses to collect and settle cross-border payments across 16 African countries via local currency rails (NGN, GHS, KES, XOF, SLE and more) and stablecoins. Its core products include Virtual Accounts, Payment Links, and an E-Wallet, all delivered through a developer-friendly REST API with SDKs and plugins, settling transactions in under 15 minutes at up to 25% lower cost than traditional banks.

Product overview

Bani is a unified payments infrastructure platform enabling African businesses to collect cross-border payments and settle transactions across Africa and globally. The core portfolio consists of Virtual Accounts (multi-bank virtual account routing for local currency collections), Payment Links (shareable payment URLs for contactless collection), and an E-Wallet (digital wallet supporting fiat and stablecoin holdings and transfers). These products are underpinned by a cloud-based REST API and SDK integrations. An industry-specific Bani for Retail Stores module adds multi-branch management, invoicing, and low-rate payment options for retail merchants. Bani covers 16 African markets and supports local currency rails including NGN, GHS, KES, XOF, SLE, and stablecoin settlement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Virtual Accounts Virtual bank accounts that enable businesses to collect cross-border payments from customers via their preferred local bank, with instant payment notification and same-session settlement, supporting multiple African currencies and bank options.
• Payment Links Shareable payment links allowing merchants to collect payments from customers across Africa without requiring a website or POS terminal, supporting multiple local currencies.
• E-Wallet Digital wallet functionality enabling businesses to hold, manage, and transfer funds across African markets, supporting both local fiat currencies and stablecoins for cross-border settlement.
• Bani for Retail Stores Industry-specific payment module for retail merchants, providing real-time payment processing, invoicing, multi-branch dashboard management, instant confirmation and settlement, and low transaction rates for in-store and omnichannel retail environments.

Quantifiable outcome

• Cross-border transaction processing in under 15 minutes
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Google for Startups Accelerator AfricacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 April 2026Bani was selected as one of 15 startups (from nearly 2,600 applicants with less than 1% acceptance rate) for the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa Class 10 cohort. The three-month hybrid program runs from April 13 to June 19, 2026, providing mentorship, AI and machine learning workshops, and access to Google's global network. This represents a prestigious accelerator program for African AI-focused startups.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Flutterwave: Pan-African payment infrastructure serving businesses with cross-border collections and payouts across multiple African currencies. Like Bani, Flutterwave targets African SMBs and enterprises with API-based integration, but operates at significantly larger scale and broader geographic reach.
• Paystack: African payment gateway acquired by Stripe that enables online businesses to accept payments across Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and beyond. Directly comparable to Bani in serving African cross-border commerce via developer-first APIs.
• Chipper Cash: Cross-border payments fintech enabling African consumers and businesses to send and receive money across African countries and globally. Comparable to Bani in multi-currency African cross-border focus, though Chipper leans more consumer/P2P than Bani's B2B positioning.
• Yellow Card: Pan-African crypto payments and stablecoin settlement platform operating in 20+ African countries. Direct peer to Bani with overlapping stablecoin settlement model and African cross-border B2B payment use cases.
• Bitnob: Africa-focused fintech leveraging Bitcoin and stablecoin rails for cross-border payments, savings, and merchant services. Comparable to Bani in using crypto rails to solve African B2B payment friction.
• DPO Pay (DPO Group): Pan-African online payment gateway supporting merchants in 20+ African countries with multi-currency card and alternative payment processing. Comparable to Bani in cross-African merchant payment coverage and merchant acquiring focus.
• MFS Africa (Onafriq): Pan-African digital payments hub connecting 500+ mobile money and bank endpoints across Africa for cross-border B2B and remittance flows. Comparable to Bani in cross-African mobile money and bank rail aggregation for cross-border payments.

Regional players

• Wave: Mobile money platform operating across Senegal, Ivory Coast, Mali, Burkina Faso, and other West African markets with low-fee P2P and merchant payments. Comparable in West African payment footprint though Wave focuses more on mobile money than Bani's B2B API model.

Broad incumbents

• Stripe: Global payments infrastructure leader whose Paystack acquisition gives African market presence. As a broad incumbent, Stripe competes indirectly by offering developer-first APIs and global cross-border payment capabilities that overlap with Bani's developer-led model.

Others

• Circle (USDC): Issuer of USDC stablecoin used for cross-border settlement; adjacent infrastructure provider rather than direct competitor. Comparable via the stablecoin settlement rail ecosystem Bani depends on for its speed advantage.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/baniafrica
• Facebookfacebook.com/baniafrica

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 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 Bani