Swiss fintech Centi and South African-founded Centbee have partnered and unveiled a plan to drive cross border remittances between Europe and Africa.

The two companies have joined forces to offer diaspora community remittance services, at ‘competitive rates’ from Switzerland to Africa.

Centbee, which offers a global digital cash wallet, announced the alliance agreement with Centi today, at the London Blockchain Conference. 

The two companies are promising to deploy advanced blockchain technology and make cross-border money transfers more streamlined, cost-effective and inclusive.

Centbee says remittances are the financial backbone for many African households, with Switzerland's sizeable diaspora community playing a significant role.

According to the World Bank, in 2020 remittances from Switzerland to foreign countries surpassed $8.2 billion, with a substantial portion dedicated to African countries.

Traditionally, Centbee says, remittances rely heavily on bank transfers and credit cards, creating challenges for the unbanked and underbanked communities in Europe.

As a result, the company says Swiss fintech Centi has developed a ‘unique cash on-ramp feature, while Centbee offers off-ramps in various African countries including Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda’.

The companies say the partnership is also eyeing greater savings potential, by leveraging Centi's blockchain technology, combined with a unique, Swiss bank-guaranteed stablecoin, alongside Centbee's digital cash wallet and extensive knowledge of the African market.

“This union is expected to bring about a marked improvement in remittance services, providing much-needed financial relief to families and communities in Africa,” reads a joint statement.

Bernhard Müller, CEO, Centi, says: “Together, we aim to challenge and transform the remittance landscape."

For Lorien Gamaroff, CEO, Centbee, the partnership with Centi aligns seamlessly with his firm’s mission to make digital cash accessible to everyone.

He says: “We are confident this partnership will bring significant benefits to our users and the wider African community."

The partnership with Centi comes as Centbee is strengthening its blockchain payment technology offerings.

Centbee recently partnered with nChain, a Web3 and blockchain technologies firm to tighten the former’s technical skills, leveraging the latter’s experience in BSV blockchain technology. 

Centbee says the BSV blockchain is the fastest public ledger with the capability to support over 50 000 transactions per second.