Kenya's WapiPay Gets Canada Licence for North America Expansion

STARTUP VENTURE CAPITALJune 28, 2026 at 8:39 PM UTC

TLDR

WapiPay obtained a Money Services Business license from Canada, expanding its operations to North America.
The license allows WapiPay to offer money transfer, foreign exchange, payment services, and support virtual currency and digital asset transactions.
This move signifies African fintechs' strategic expansion into global payment corridors, emphasizing the importance of regulatory compliance and diverse partnerships for cross-border success.

WapiPay received a Money Services Business licence from Canada’s Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre, giving the Kenyan-founded fintech its first licensed operating presence in North America.

The licence allows WapiPay to provide money transfer, foreign exchange and payment services in Canada. It also permits the company to support virtual currency and digital asset transactions through its Canadian subsidiary.

The approval marks another step in WapiPay’s push to expand beyond Africa. The company already has operations and partnerships across Africa, Asia, the UK and the Caribbean. Its entry into Canada is expected to support cross-border payments, remittances and trade flows between North America and emerging markets.

Founded in 2019 by Edward N. and Paul Ndichu, WapiPay first focused on payment flows between Africa and Asia before expanding into wider financial services. Earlier this year, the company launched a remittance-based credit scoring product for Kenyan banks.

The Canada licence follows WapiPay’s regulatory approval to begin operations in Jamaica in April. Chief Executive Officer Edward N. said the Canadian approval gives the company a regulated base to combine fiat payments with digital assets while maintaining compliance with international rules.

Key Takeaways

WapiPay’s Canada licence shows how African fintechs are using regulation to move into global payment corridors. Cross-border payments require more than technology. Companies need licences, compliance systems, banking partners and trust from regulators before they can serve businesses and consumers at scale. Canada gives WapiPay access to a large remittance and trade market, while also creating a regulated base for virtual currency and digital asset services. That matters because more payment companies are combining traditional rails with digital assets to improve speed, cost and settlement options. WapiPay’s roots in Africa-Asia payments give it experience in emerging-market corridors where businesses often face slow transfers, high fees and foreign exchange friction. The challenge will be execution across multiple jurisdictions. Each market has different compliance rules, customer needs and partner requirements. If WapiPay can use its Canada and Jamaica approvals to deepen North America-Caribbean-Africa flows, it could become a stronger global payments platform connecting developed and emerging markets.

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