Online payments should be simple. Navigate to merchant checkout, enter your card details, hit pay, and boom, the transaction is completed! That’s how it works in Asia, Europe, Mars, North America, Venus, and basically every developed market. But in Africa? Good luck with that.
If you’re an investor from Silicon Valley mapping out your million-dollar fintech strategy, thinking, Oh, Africa has 1.5 billion people, so surely millions of them use cards, right? Calm down. It doesn’t work like that. Cards are a disaster here, and if you’ve ever tried to make an online payment in Africa, you already know the struggle.
Let’s be honest, paying online with a card in Africa is like an obstacle course, and not the fun kind. It’s the kind where every hurdle is higher than the last, and by the time you think you’ve won, someone moves the finish line. Even as fintechs and banks try to push online card payment, reality has other plans. People either don’t have them, can’t get them, or find them useless when they finally do. And the worst part? None of this is going to change anytime soon. Here’s why.
The “everyone has a bank account” myth
Let’s start with the basics. Not everyone in Africa has a bank account. And even if they do, that doesn’t mean they have a card. In Nigeria, for instance, only about 50 to 70 percent of bank account holders even bother getting one. Why? Because getting a card is too much trouble.
Think about it. Cards are physical. You have to go to a bank branch (not exactly fun), stand in long queues, and pray that the network is working that day. Sure, some banks now issue instant cards, but rewind just five years ago, and you’d have to wait weeks. And let’s be honest, if you had to leave your business or daily hustle just to get a card, you probably wouldn’t bother either.
And even if you somehow manage to get a card, guess what? It doesn’t guarantee smooth payments. In fact, the headache is just getting started.
Even when people have cards, they can’t use them online
Okay, let’s say you finally get a card. Fantastic. But what happens next?
First, not everyone is sophisticated. Inserting a card into an ATM and punching in a PIN is easy. It’s the same interface across Africa. But try making an online payment, and you’re in for a different experience. Every website and payment provider has a different flow. What you see on Paystack isn’t what you get with PayFast. So even if you’ve memorized how one platform works, that knowledge won’t help you elsewhere.
Now, add to that the fact that the quality of cards here isn’t even great to start with. They wear out fast. if you’ve used an ATM in Africa, you’ve seen those cards with numbers completely rubbed off. Now imagine trying to make an online payment when you can’t even read your own card details. Some people forget their cards entirely, leaving them at home or buried in some wallet no one can find. Others walk around with expired debit cards, completely unaware.
And even when the card is in perfect condition, it still might not work. Some banks require customers to “activate” their cards before they can make online payments. No activation, no transaction. Then there’s fraud protection, which often kills transactions before they even begin. Many African banks insist on sending OTPs (one-time passwords) for security. The problem? Mobile networks here are unreliable. Sometimes the OTP never arrives, sometimes it takes forever, and sometimes the bank just blocks the transaction for fun.
By the time you go through all this trouble, only about 10 to 20 percent of banked customers can actually make online payments with their cards. And those 10 to 20 percent? They’re just lucky.
Even when cards work, they don’t work
So you’ve got your card, and miraculously, it’s in your hand, activated, and ready to use. You go to an e-commerce site, enter your details, and… nothing. The transaction takes forever to process or the internet connection fails midway. Perhaps, the bank’s system crashes. Or you feel you refresh the page by mistake, and the payment vanishes into thin air.
E-commerce businesses in Africa learned this the hard way. In the early days, they relied on card payments, until they realized that customers just couldn’t complete transactions. That’s why “payment on delivery” became a thing, and that, too, turned into a nightmare when customers ghosted on payments.
Even when a payment miraculously goes through, there’s no guarantee the merchant will actually receive the money. Failed settlements, chargebacks, and fraud disputes mean that even businesses are skeptical of cards. So, what’s left? A whole lot of frustration and some seriously angry customers.
Addressing in Africa is a mess
Let’s say a bank wants to solve this card problem by delivering them straight to customers. Well, good luck with that, because address systems in most African cities are a joke. Unless you’re in a few select parts of South Africa, good luck finding a street number that actually exists. So banks can’t even mail cards efficiently.
Ever tried directing a delivery guy to your house over the phone? “Take the third right, pass the big tree, then turn left at the yellow gate.” That’s how addresses work here. Now imagine a bank trying to mail you a sensitive financial document like a debit card. It’s just not happening.
Sure, fintechs like Moniepoint, Kuda, Sterling Bank, and Tyme are trying to deliver cards directly to customers. But it’s expensive, and no one wants to absorb the cost. So, mass adoption? Not happening anytime soon.
Cards are dying, and honestly, no one will miss them
Here’s the truth. Cards have overstayed their welcome. They are clunky, outdated, and impractical for the African market. Mobile money, bank transfers, and virtual accounts are already replacing them. And honestly, good riddance.
I spent years selling cards across African markets, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this. Cards are simply not the future here. And that’s okay. Because the next wave of payments in Africa will be faster, more reliable, and most importantly digital.
The best part? Africans have already figured it out. Mobile wallets, USSD transfers, QR codes, and instant bank transfers are the real MVPs here. Who needs plastic when you can pay with your phone in two seconds?
So, if you’re still wondering why cards aren’t taking off in Africa, here’s your answer. We skipped that step. And honestly, we’re better off without them.
The global card giants are catching on
Even Visa and Mastercard are adjusting to this shift. They’ve started partnering with fintechs to push virtual cards, QR payments, and mobile-based solutions instead of traditional plastic. In Kenya, Mastercard has integrated with M-Pesa to facilitate digital transactions, while Visa is working with Nigerian banks to enhance mobile-based cardless payments. The message is clear. Africa is moving beyond plastic, and the big players are following suit.
So, the next time a fintech startup pitches a grand plan to “revolutionize” Africa with cards, tell them to save their breath. We’ve moved on. And anyone still clinging to plastic is living in the past.