OpenWay: powering Africa’s next-gen payments ecosystem

Empowering banks and fintechs across Africa to innovate, scale, and make digital payments accessible, simple, and convenient.

Africa is undergoing a payments revolution. In 2024, digital payments grew by 16%, and with 763 million mobile money accounts and wallets forecast to process $500 billion in 2025, the continent is leading in financial inclusion and innovation. From Lagos to Nairobi, Cape Town to Cairo, the shift to digital wallets, contactless payments, and cross-border systems is accelerating, driven by progressive regulators and ambitious fintechs.

This momentum is reshaping the financial landscape: inclusion is broadening from individuals to governments, fintech investment is surging, and mobile adoption is powering wallet growth. Meanwhile, initiatives like PAPSS are slashing cross-border costs by $5 billion annually, unlocking trade and growth. Africa is a region of limitless opportunity — and OpenWay is here to power its next era.

The challenge: legacy systems are holding banks back

Many African banks and fintechs are constrained by outdated, fragmented systems that:

Prevent fast launches of new payment products.
Increase total cost of ownership (TCO).
Struggle with regulatory compliance, scalability, and security.

C-level leaders know that to stay competitive in this dynamic environment, they must migrate from legacy systems and embrace modern, unified platforms built for innovation, scale, and resilience.

Why OpenWay and Way4?

OpenWay’s Way4 digital payments platform is chosen by global and African leaders for one clear reason: it enables them to grow, innovate, and thrive in a competitive market.

1. Get lower TCO with Way4

Way4 consolidates all services — from issuing and acquiring to wallets, fleet, and switching — onto a single multi-channel platform, eliminating the cost of fragmented systems. Its scalable architecture grows with your business, supporting more than 3,400 transactions per second and over 100 million active cards in one installation. This means African banks can expand across borders without hitting technical limits.

Issuing, Acquiring, Loyalty

Account Management

B2C & B2B Card Issuing

Tokenization, Wallets

Authentication, Authorization

Merchant Management

Data Preparation & Card Personalization

Product & Tariff Management

Loalty, Couponing

Business Automation

Customer Onboarding

Application Processing

Customer Service

Dispute Management

Datamart

Merchant Service Workbench

Web Portals

Real-Time Risk Management

Channels

POS Management

E-commerce Gateway

ATM Management

Digital Wallet

API

SMS Banking

Mobile Commerce

Messengers

Interfaces

Payment Schemes

Alternative Payment Methods

Money Transfers

Bill Payments

Core Banking

SEPA Instant Payments

Host-to-host

3rd Party Batch

Platform Services

Multiple financial institutions

High Availability

UX Management

Health Monitoring

Housekeeping

Protocol Scripting

Product Modeling

Scheduler

Dr. James Mwangi Managing Director and CEO Equity Group

“The system not only gives Equity a niche in terms of competitiveness in cutting-edge technology and card management, but allows speedy and efficient transaction process in real time, and for all currencies. Equity was among the first banks in the region able to handle regional inter-switching connectivity.”

2. Accelerate ROI and unlock new revenue streams

In payments, speed is the winning factor.

Be a leader in innovation
According to BCG, fast innovators are 18 times more disruptive, and quick product launches can generate at least 30% of revenue. OpenWay helps African institutions lead, not follow.
New products without coding delays
With 95% of features configurable by parameters, Way4 lets banks launch new products fast. No reliance on slow development cycles.
Adaptable to local needs
Products can be tailored to local customer preferences and regulatory frameworks, from BNPL to mobile-first wallets.

Bhairav Trivedi CEO Network International

“The new platform will allow Network International to develop solutions for our clients in a manner not available to our competitors and peers in the region.”

3. Get global expertise from the Best-in-Class payment software vendor

African financial institutions deserve world-class technology and delivery.

Proven track record
OpenWay has achieved 100% successful deliveries worldwide.
Best-in-Class recognition
Professional glocal team
In Africa, OpenWay has a strong presence in Angola, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, with clients in DRC, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Sudan — supported locally and globally by the collective expertise of OpenWay worldwide.

Alfred Gachaga CEO SanuPay

“We have selected the best-in-class solution to provide best-in-class payment services in Ethiopia. By partnering with OpenWay and deploying Way4, SanuPay is enabling a new era of card issuing in Ethiopia and beyond — building resilient, scalable, and compliant infrastructure that supports Africa’s digital financial transformation.”

4. A strategic approach for African payment leaders

Our strategic approach empowers African leaders to move faster, scale smarter, and grow inclusively. With Way4, you can launch digital wallets, BNPL, and cross-border services quickly, while relying on a cloud-ready, API-driven platform that future-proofs operations. By combining high automation with robust compliance, OpenWay helps banks reduce costs while extending secure, accessible payments to individuals, corporates, and governments alike.

Simon Gachahi Head of Retail and Digital Banking I&M Bank Tanzania

“Way4’s flexibility and rich functionality across all payment domains enable us to serve diverse countries, business models, and customer segments seamlessly on a single platform. Its cross-border capabilities, stability, and scalability – combined with modern APIs and AI-readiness – equip us to innovate continuously and respond quickly to customer needs.”

Hermann Mike Regional Director (Sub-Saharan Africa) OpenWay

“Africa is where the future of payments is being invented today. With OpenWay, banks and fintechs can deliver secure, innovative, and inclusive solutions at scale — making payments simple, convenient, and accessible for all.”