Union54, A Zambian Startup, Is Developing Africa’s First Card-Issuing API
Zambian startup Union54, which specializes in fintech, has announced that it’s developing Africa’s first card-issuing API.
According to TechCrunch, the company founded by Perseus Mlambo and Alessandra Martini claims to be Africa’s first card-issuing API — and while, technically, they’re correct, they initially thought of the idea when they were part of Zazu, their previous startup.
Back then, Zazu — which was launched in 2015 — was considered a “challenger bank,” and had to rely on outside vendors to issue debit cards to customers. According to Mlambo, some customers waited as long as 18 months to get a debit card issued in their name.
“We just realized that either the processor or the bank was not necessarily well equipped to be able to answer our qu...