Flutterwave, the largest startup in Africa, has announced the closure of Barter, a virtual card service introduced in 2017, as it redirects its focus toward enterprise and remittance sectors. Over the past month, the fintech has advised customers to withdraw their funds from the app.
Flutterwave explained that the decision to sunset Barter stemmed from a thorough analysis of market dynamics and evolving customer preferences. The company aims to prioritize proven revenue streams, particularly enterprise services, which have emerged as its primary revenue driver. Barter, in contrast, contributed only around 1% to the company’s $2 billion transaction volume, as reported by one of its co-founders to Quartz Africa in 2018.
“While retail remains important to us, our immediate focus is optimizing services for businesses and enhancing remittance solutions,” Flutterwave stated.
Flutterwave’s remittance products, Send and Swap, target a significant share of Africa’s $54 billion remittance market, although specific progress metrics for these products remain undisclosed.
Barter, upon its launch in 2017, marked a significant milestone as one of the pioneering tech startups to offer Nigerians international payment capabilities. The platform leveraged Flutterwave’s virtual card API and platform to empower users to create unlimited virtual dollar cards for various transactions.
However, Barter encountered several challenges throughout its journey. In 2022, the platform experienced prolonged unavailability due to updates from its card partner, Union54, a Zambian card issuer embroiled in a $1.2 billion chargeback fraud attempt. Additionally, customers reported downtime issues and card rejections by prominent merchants like Netflix, Facebook, PayPal, and Apple Music.
As Flutterwave bids farewell to Barter, it underscores the company’s strategic realignment towards more robust and scalable business segments while addressing the evolving needs of its customer base.
Source: Techcabal