Zone (formerly Appzone) builds an interoperable, blockchain-based payment infrastructure and licensed switch to connect banks and fintechs without intermediaries. Its network provides a gateway that routes transactions directly to issuers for authorization and enables decentralized routing, automated reconciliation and instant settlement features pending Central Bank of Nigeria approval. The company rebranded to Zone in 2022 after integrating blockchain with legacy banking systems and carved out its original banking-as-a-service business into a standalone company, Qore. Zone has signed up over 15 of Africa’s largest banks and is processing domestic transactions for seven of them via ATM channels. Operational traction includes transactions processed at more than 6,000 ATMs for over 10 million cardholders and over $1M processed within three months of launching its ATM use case. Zone does not charge implementation fees and says the $8.5M seed will help it launch additional functionalities, expand to other payment channels (POS, web, fund transfer) and shorten client onboarding times.

Total raised

$9M

Funding rounds

1

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Mar 2024