Lagos commensurate with New York as a hub for payments startups

• FXC Intelligence has published a deep-dive report into cross-border payments startups.
• Geographically, there was a stronger presence of payments 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 payments startups founded since the start of 2022. 7% of startups were founded there, underpinning its growing importance as a payments hub. 

Today, FXC Intelligence has published a deep-dive report looking at the trends in cross-border payments startups, focusing on new companies launched since the start of 2022.

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 payments 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 payments 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.