Kenyan payments startup WapiPay has secured a Money Services Business (MSB) licence in Canada.The licence allows the company to provide foreign exchange, money transfer, payment services, and virtual currency transactions under Canadian regulations.The move marks WapiPay’s first regulated operating base in North America.The expansion reflects a broader trend of African fintechs pursuing international licences rather than relying solely on correspondent banking relationships.The development comes as remittance costs to Sub-Saharan Africa remain among the highest in the world.
WapiPay, the Kenyan fintech founded in 2019, received its Money Services Business (MSB) registration from Canada’s FINTRAC, the federal body responsible for overseeing Canada’s anti-money-laundering and financial-intelligence framework.
The Canadian MSB Licence and What It Allows
The licence authorises WapiPay to offer foreign exchange, international money transfers, payment processing, and virtual currency and digital asset transactions through a newly established Canadian subsidiary.
Speaking on the move, WapiPay co-founder and CEO, Eddie Ndichu, remarked;
Securing a footprint in North America through obtaining a Money Services Business licence is a massive milestone for WapiPay.
With the FINTRAC registration, WapiPay gains approval in one of the world’s most scrutinised financial jurisdictions. This new status carries weight with banking partners, payment infrastructure providers, and institutional counterparties globally.
Why African Fintechs Are Pursuing Licences Directly
For most of their history, African payment companies operated at the edges of the global financial system.
Oftentimes, they relied on correspondent banking relationships, third-party payment providers, and international bank partnerships to move money across borders.
These arrangements worked, but they came with slower settlement times, higher transaction fees, and limited control over how payments are routed and priced.
A growing number of African fintechs are now pursuing a different model. Rather than depending on licensed intermediaries in key financial hubs, they are securing their own regulatory approvals in major markets. This gives them greater control over payment infrastructure.
WapiPay’s Canadian licence is a more recent example of this shift. In a similar move, in 2025, Flutterwave obtained 20 additional Money Transmitter Licences in the US. In 2024, Bamboo obtained a U.S. broker-dealer license.
The Correspondent Banking Problem Hasn’t Gone Away
Despite increased fintech innovation in Africa, cross-border payments remain structurally expensive. This is particularly true for transactions originating from or destined to Sub-Saharan Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa carries the highest average remittance costs of any region globally, nearly three times the UN SDG target of 3% per transfer.
Moving money across borders typically involves multiple correspondent banks, each taking a margin, converting currencies, and adding compliance overhead. Each additional step adds costs and delays, reducing the value that arrives at the other end. Direct licensing could reduce or eliminate those steps.
Why Canada Is a Strategic Choice
Canada’s MSB regime under FINTRAC has several qualities that make it attractive for internationally oriented payment companies.
A single federal registration covers all ten provinces and three territories. The process carries no statutory capital minimums or government registration fees, making it accessible to growth-stage fintechs.
Canada’s virtual currency regulations have explicitly covered crypto exchange and transfer since 2020. The framework was further strengthened in 2024 and 2026, providing a clear framework for companies that want to use digital assets in their settlement infrastructure.
For fintech firms building global payment rails, regulatory credibility is as valuable as the market access it brings.
WapiPay’s Corridor-Building Strategy
WapiPay was founded in 2019 by twins Eddie Ndichu and Paul Ndichu, initially focusing on payments between Africa and Asia. The African-Asian corridor at the time served traders and small businesses moving goods across those markets. The company’s ambitions have grown significantly since then.
In April 2026, WapiPay made its first entrance into the Caribbean regulatory space by securing regulatory approval in Jamaica. Between its regulatory approvals in the African-Asia corridor and in Jamaica, the company had a foothold in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. The Canadian licence extends that footprint into North America.
WapiPay appears to be building a network of licensed positions across multiple regions, securing access to these corridors rather than renting access.
In February, WapiPay launched a remittance-based credit scoring platform. It enabled Kenyan banks and savings cooperatives to use diaspora remittances as evidence of income for borrowers with limited formal credit histories.
The Digital Asset Dimension
While WapiPay has not announced any blockchain-based products for the Canadian market, the regulatory permission granted by this licence makes it a strategic option.
Digital assets offer advantages in cross-border settlement. Stablecoins, for instance, settle faster, are available 24/7, and reduce reliance on traditional correspondent banking chains.
Many African payment companies, such as Flutterwave and Paga, and even global giants like Mastercard, are exploring blockchain-based settlement infrastructure.
The ability to legally operate virtual currency services in Canada provides WapiPay with the flexibility to explore similar options, such as hybrid settlement models that combine traditional fiat rails with digital asset infrastructure.
Challenges WapiPay Could Face
Regulatory approvals are the beginning of the work, not the end of it. Operating across multiple licensed jurisdictions requires ongoing AML compliance, KYC procedures, and suspicious activity reporting.
WapiPay will also compete in established markets. Canada’s payments ecosystem includes global remittance providers, major crypto payment platforms, and well-capitalised fintech firms.
WapiPay will need to deliver competitive pricing and speed while establishing itself as a reliable option to win over business in this region.
What This Means for African Payments
WapiPay’s Canadian registration is one data point in the trend of African fintechs building global infrastructure, not just local products.
For years, the defining challenge for African fintech has been financial inclusion. A second phase is now underway.
These companies have mastered their home corridors and are now pursuing the regulatory licences that allow them to shape how money moves internationally.
If more African payment companies succeed in building directly licensed infrastructure across major financial centres, they will stop being users of foreign payment systems and become builders of global ones.
This could reduce costs and improve speed in ways that remittance recipients and small businesses that depend on cross-border payments will notice.
Originally published at https://cryptoafrica.news on June 23, 2026.
WapiPay’s Canadian MSB License Signals a Bigger Shift in African Fintech was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.