Consumers across Africa can now purchase a variety of digital essentials in Carry1st‘s, the mobile games publisher, newly launched shop. Ranging from pre-paid electricity and mobile data, to assets in their favourite games, to subscriptions to platforms like Xbox Live, Tinder, and Uber, Carry1st’s partnerships with PayPal and Chipper Cash, a cross-border payments company recently valued at $2billion, have enabled the mobile games publisher to act as a one-stop-shop for users across the continent.
Consumers can browse products, select their bundles, and pay via a range of local payment options such as mobile money, crypto, and bank transfers. The result is a one-stop-shop where people can seamlessly and securely purchase their favourite gaming assets, lifestyle content, and more.
The integration with Chipper Cash — which represents the newly minted unicorn’s first Network API partnership in Africa — is live in Nigeria ahead of a wider roll out. The partnership with PayPal enables payments everywhere that PayPal is accepted.
Credit card penetration in Africa remains low — comprising 27% of digital payments compared to 92% in the US and UK. But the digital payments sector continues to grow rapidly because of the continent’s massive mobile-first population. This growth has resulted in a fragmented ecosystem, however, with there being 277 mobile wallets, over 500 banks, and several card networks across 55 countries, according to Cellulant.
Carry1st has already partnered with Africa’s leading fintech companies, including Paystack, Safaricom, Cellulant, and many others, to develop and launch Pay1st, a payments orchestration solution that consolidates the most well-adopted methods in six African countries.
“By partnering with PayPal, the world’s largest consumer payments platform, and Chipper Cash, one of the most innovative and fast-growing payment platforms in Africa, we are removing the pain points that consumers face when purchasing virtual goods,” commented Cordel Robbin-Coker, Carry1st CEO and co-founder. “In Chipper Cash we have a partner that is perfectly aligned with our passion and dedication to revolutionise payments across Africa through technology and sector expertise, and to help the continent seize the unprecedented opportunities that lie ahead.”
“Carry1st is a remarkable company, blazing new ground in mobile game development and distribution across the African continent,” comments Hasan Luongo, VP of Global Marketing at Chipper. “Chipper’s partnership with Carry1st brings together two of the fastest growing technology segments globally in gaming and payments, so that many millions and soon billions more people can enjoy the best games and instantly purchase credits and top-ups in just a few taps.”
