YC-Backed Touch and Pay Technologies (TAP), the company behind the Cowry Card, has launched a new feature enabling Nigerians to receive small-dollar sums from the diaspora for transportation. The feature, dubbed “dollar top-ups,” allows users to receive up to $20 from overseas, which can then be used to pay for bus and train fares.
TAP partnered with New York-based remittance company Lipaworld, an Africa-facing company supporting diaspora remittances, to facilitate these transactions. “We are simply providing an avenue for people abroad to support people back home, especially regarding transportation,” Afolabi, TAP’s CEO, told Condia.
“Someone abroad could send $20 transport support home. That’s over ₦30,000 and it goes into their Cowry wallet. It can be used for transportation for the rest of the month.”
Rising fuel costs and food prices have significantly impacted consumer spending habits in Nigeria making it difficult to pay for transportation or food. With a surge in the country’s inflation numbers to 32.70% in September 2024, several consumers have sought food and transport subsidies. Part of these reasons have led Lagos residents to patronise the state-backed transportation— way cheaper than ubiquitous Lagos danfos, which are often expensive and slow. TAP has benefitted from this system by providing Cowry Cards, a contactless payment card for public transportation.
This strategic move by TAP marks a significant expansion beyond its core business of facilitating contactless payments for public transportation. The company seems to venture into the realm of cross-border payments, leveraging its strong user base and technology infrastructure.
Afolabi is quick to downplay those suggestions that may abound. “We are not doing remittance—we don’t have the license but we just want people to send money home and pay for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and the train.”
The introduction of dollar top-ups is just the beginning. TAP has ambitious plans to launch a global card that will allow users to receive funds from abroad and spend them in Nigeria. This global card will further strengthen Cowry Card’s position as a leading fintech player in Africa.
Its flagship product which simplifies transport payments has surged in transaction volumes, processing over ₦20 billion already in 2024, and helping them achieve profitability status, Afolabi said. This improvement has stalled fundraising talks as the company looks to bolster dollar revenues by introducing global products that could pool newer revenue sources. The company had formerly raised $4 million in venture funding from Unicorn Growth Capital, a New York VC firm, according to crunchbase data. In 2023, TAP planned to raise another $4 million in funding. All is now stalled due to profitability metrics Afolabi declined to share.
Nearly five million people now use Cowry Cards, Afolabi said. An improvement from 3.8 million in 2023, as more Lagosians continue to trust the company’s multimodal transportation product. This has also been driven by the successes of the BRT, blue line and recently launched red line.
TAP not only operates in Lagos State. The fintech was already expanding to Oyo, Ogun, Edo, and Kano. Beyond Nigeria, it also planned to expand to Ghana, as it continues to make its mark on the continent.
“Several projects are being planned in the pipeline,” Afolabi said.
