Lagos emerges as a Hub for Payment Startups on Par with New York

FXC Intelligence releases an in-depth report analysing trends in cross-border payment startups, with emphasis on companies launched since the beginning of 2022.

• Geographically, there was a stronger presence of payment startups in emerging markets than among lists of larger, more established cross-border payments companies.
• Lagos, Nigeria, came in joint second with New York in terms of cities with the most cross-border payment startups founded since the start of 2022. 7% of startups were founded there, underpinning its growing importance as a payments hub.

While the traditional dominance of the US and Western Europe remained, there was a stronger presence of emerging markets than among lists of larger, more established cross-border payments companies, such as our own Top 100.

This was particularly notable in Africa, where the majority of new companies were located in West Africa, as opposed to South Africa, where more established players are based

Among cities where cross-border payment startups were founded, Lagos, Nigeria, accounted for 7% of all companies founded since 2022. This puts it in joint second with New York, US, with only London, UK, ahead. This underpins Nigeria, and in particular Lagos, as having growing importance as a payments hub.

Lucy Ingham, Editor-in-Chief and Head of Content at FXC Intelligence said: “The high placement of Lagos reflects Nigeria’s growing importance in both Africa and the world. It’s clear that Lagos is emerging as a key global payments hub, indicating that the future of payments will become more geographically diverse outside of Europe and North America.”

FXC intelligence found that of all payment startups across the globe, most served business customers. Many also focused on the use of cryptocurrencies in payments. Interestingly, crypto use varied by continent, with the majority of crypto-focused companies based outside of Europe and North America.