Flutterwave Adopts Polygon for Instant, Cross-Border Payments

Flutterwave, the African payments giant, is making a huge bet on what the future of money will look like. The company has just announced a major new partnership with Polygon Labs.

Their aim is simple but ambitious-to use stablecoins for faster and cheaper cross-border payments across the continent. In this multi-year deal, Flutterwave will tap into Polygon’s blockchain network for instant settlements; hence, this could be one of the largest real-world stablecoin deployments ever seen in emerging markets.

The company plans a phased rollout, with select enterprise clients in 2025 and expanding to all Flutterwave for Business users and its Send App in 2026. This is arguably the biggest move by Flutterwave into blockchain technology.

Founded in 2016 by Olugbenga Agboola, the firm already processes more than $40 billion in payments for more than 150 currencies across 34 countries. It is now tackling one of the most persistent headaches in African finance directly.

Tackling a Multi-Billion Dollar Problem

A new solution is badly needed. Today, sending money to sub-Saharan Africa is prohibitively expensive. According to the World Bank, the average is 8% per transaction – nearly triple the global average. But on top of this, settlement delays can last for days. These bottlenecks badly hinder trade and cripple cash flow for small businesses. Flutterwave and Polygon firmly believe that their stablecoin cooperation is just the solution.

They guarantee to settle transactions in only a few seconds. They also pledge to cut costs down to a fraction of a single cent. Both leaders are fully behind the vision. Olugbenga Agboola, Flutterwave’s CEO and founder, said, “By partnering with Polygon, we’re introducing a solution that makes international payments even more simple and affordable than many local ones. This revolution will unlock new economic opportunities across the continent.”

Already, the use of stablecoins across Africa is skyrocketing, with transaction volumes above $50 billion in 2024.A Vote of Confidence for Digital Currency For Polygon, this is a huge nod of approval. Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, focused on real-world consequences. “Flutterwave saw what we see: stablecoins on Polygon can move settlement times from days to seconds and high fees into pennies.”

The first phase will benefit the large multinational customers of Flutterwave, including Uber and Audiomack. Later, everyday consumers will feel the advantage through the Send App. This strategic move is a profound shift.