Polygon Labs has announced a groundbreaking partnership with Flutterwave, Africa’s largest payment infrastructure provider, which has processed over $40 billion in transaction volume to date. This collaboration positions Polygon’s PoS blockchain, known for its high-performance capabilities, as the default blockchain network for Flutterwave’s new cross-border payments product. It marks a significant milestone for the adoption of real-world stablecoins in emerging markets, further solidifying Polygon’s role in global payment systems.
Flutterwave will initiate the rollout of Polygon’s blockchain in 2025, starting with a pilot program for selecting Flutterwave for Business customers. Full access to the platform will be made available to all Flutterwave for Business and Send App users by 2026. This expansion will significantly enhance remittances and streamline cross-border payment processes, benefiting businesses and consumers alike.
The partnership integrates Polygon’s cutting-edge infrastructure to enable faster, more affordable cross-border transactions, reducing the cost and time traditionally required for global payments. This is especially impactful for Flutterwave’s vast network of global multinational clients, including major companies like Uber and Audiomack.
Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, emphasized the benefits of using stablecoins on Polygon’s network, stating, “Thriving African businesses lose revenue each year to slow, expensive cross-border payments. Flutterwave saw what we see: stablecoins on Polygon can advance settlement times from days to seconds, and high fees into pennies.” This collaboration is seen as a major step forward in demonstrating stablecoins as the future of cross-border payments.
The first phase of the collaboration will focus on enterprise clients, enabling large corporations to take advantage of stablecoin infrastructure for their payment flows, dramatically reducing settlement times from days to seconds and slashing transaction costs. The next phase will expand to include consumer remittances through Flutterwave’s Send App, offering affordable, instant cross-border payments to millions of individuals.
Flutterwave’s CEO and Founder, Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, explained the significance of the partnership, noting, “Businesses in emerging economies process billions in cross-border payments annually, yet still face high costs and slow settlement times. By partnering with Polygon, we’re introducing a solution that makes international payments even simpler and more affordable than many local ones. This revolution will unlock new economic opportunities across the continent.”
This collaboration addresses key challenges in the $2 trillion global cross-border payments market, where businesses and consumers in emerging economies often face the highest transaction costs, sometimes exceeding 8% for remittances. By leveraging Polygon’s ultra-low transaction fees (sub-$0.01) and near-instant settlement times, Flutterwave can significantly improve the economics and user experience for its clients.
Furthermore, the alliance provides a blueprint for the widespread adoption of stablecoins in emerging markets, where traditional banking infrastructure struggles to meet the needs of rapidly evolving digital economies. Flutterwave operates in over 30 African countries, supporting more than 150 currencies, showcasing how blockchain technology can effectively address real-world payment challenges at scale.
This partnership builds on Polygon’s recent achievements in the institutional payment sector. Notable milestones include processing half of all USDC transfers in the $100-$1,000 range in the U.S., facilitating BlackRock’s BUIDL Fund tokenization via Securitize (with over $1 billion in assets under management), and supporting breakthrough applications like Polymarket, which has processed over $1.1 billion in cumulative volume and secured a $2 billion investment from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), bringing its valuation to around $8 billion.
Through their combined efforts, Polygon and Flutterwave are setting a new global standard for how blockchain technology can solve real-world payment challenges, paving the way for a more efficient and inclusive global payment system.
