Africa’s leading payment company, Flutterwave, and crypto exchange Yellow Card have joined 25 other global payment platforms under a new initiative called the Circle Payments Network (CPN). This network aims to facilitate faster and more secure cross-border payments by leveraging regulated stablecoins.
Established by Circle Internet Group, Inc., a global fintech leader and stablecoin innovator, the CPN connects a wide range of financial institutions including banks, neobanks, payment service providers, virtual asset service providers, and digital wallets to enable real-time settlement of international transactions.
“CPN marks the next chapter in Circle’s evolution, extending beyond trusted stablecoins and developer platforms to power a globally connected payments network,” Circle said in a statement.
A More Unified Global Payment System
According to Circle, the CPN will unify fragmented payment networks and local currencies, offering 24/7 real-time settlement using stablecoins like USDC and EURC.
Apart from Flutterwave and Yellow Card, other design partners include:
- Alfred Pay
- BCB Group
- BVNK
- CoinMENA
- Coins.ph
- Conduit
- dLocal
- dtcpay
- FOMO Pay
- HIFI
- Inswitch
- Legend Trading
- Nilos
- Noah
- Nuvei
- Onafriq
- OpenPayd
- RD Technologies
- RedotPay
- TazaPay
- Transfero Group
- Triple-A
- Trubit
- Unlimit
- Zepz
- Zodia Markets
Additionally, infrastructure platforms like Fireblocks are helping connect institutional customers to expand access to secure, efficient cross-border payments.
Flutterwave’s Vision with CPN
Celebrating the milestone, Flutterwave described CPN in a post on X (formerly Twitter) as the:
“World’s largest, most widely-used stablecoin network.”
The company added:
“This partnership is a major step forward in our mission to simplify global payments for African enterprises and the diaspora. Through CPN, we have improved our capacity to offer real-time, low-cost, and compliant cross-border payments, helping businesses expand beyond borders with ease.”
Addressing Cross-Border Payment Challenges
The Circle Payments Network is specifically designed to solve inefficiencies in the current global payment landscape. These challenges include:
- Lengthy settlement times (sometimes longer than a business day)
- High transaction costs (over 6%)
- Multiple intermediaries causing delays
- Compliance checks and fragmented jurisdictional regulations
Circle stated that CPN provides financial institutions a modern way to move money globally, offering the speed, transparency, and programmability of the internet.
“CPN is governed by a robust framework that requires participants to meet strict eligibility standards, including licensing, AML/CFT compliance, financial risk management, and cybersecurity protocols,” the company added.
By leveraging regulated stablecoins, CPN also ensures seamless integration with domestic real-time payment systems worldwide while maintaining compliance and security.
Empowering a New Era of Financial System
Circle explained that CPN will unlock a variety of cross-border payment use cases, including:
- Supplier payments
- Remittances
- Payroll
- Capital markets settlement
- Internal treasury operations
- On-chain financial applications
Built with smart contract infrastructure and modular APIs, the network enables third-party developers to create advanced modules, app services, and automated financial workflows directly on the platform.
Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Circle, summed it up:
“Since our founding, Circle’s vision has been to make moving money as simple and efficient as sending an email. CPN is a significant step in making that vision a reality for businesses worldwide.”
What You Should Know
Despite technological advancements, cross-border payments still take longer than one business day to settle and often cost more than 6%, according to the World Bank.
These delays and costs heavily impact emerging markets, limiting their global competitiveness.
By addressing these challenges, CPN promises to bring greater efficiency, lower costs, and enhanced speed to global payments especially benefiting businesses and consumers in regions like Africa.