Seamfix, PAPSS Partner on Cross-border Payments in Africa

Sunday Okobi

Seamfix has entered into a new partnership with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), operated by Afreximbank, to boost compliance, as well as build a governance platform that supports real-time cross-border payments across Africa.

The collaboration has, however, introduced PGATE, a compliance and transaction-governance layer built by Seamfix.

In a statement made available yesterday to THISDAY, by the Group Chief Executive Officer of Seamfix, Chimezie Emewulu,  the organisation said the platform links identity, payment behaviour, and regulatory checks in a single workflow, giving central banks, commercial banks, and other financial institutions a unified view of cross-border transactions and helps them enforce thresholds and spot suspicious activity without slowing payment flow.

It stated that PAPSS would champion the platform across its network, which includes central banks and financial institutions already sending and receiving payments in local currencies.

Emewulu said: “Seamfix will build, operate, and maintain PGATE under a vendor-financed model. The move supports PAPSS’s push to grow participation and expand services tied to its settlement infrastructure. It also responds to feedback from institutions that want stronger visibility on identity-linked payment behaviour as transaction volumes rise across the continent.

“Payments move fast across Africa, but trust must move with them. This partnership helps banks and regulators see what they need to see, at the moment they need to see it, without getting in the way of the transaction.”

He explained that PGATE draws on Seamfix’s Fixiam identity engine to link customer identities across institutions and detect fragmentation of transactions.

According to him, it offers pre-transaction screening, quota governance, consent management,, and audit trails that regulators can review after settlements occur.

“The partnership reflects broader efforts to simplify payments under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), making it easier for businesses and individuals to send money across borders without complex currency conversions or delays.

“Seamfix and PAPSS will begin joint stakeholder sessions ahead of a planned proof-of-concept with selected central banks and commercial banks.”

The statement noted that PAPSS is a continental payment and settlement system created to enable real-time cross-border payments in local African currencies, adding that it is backed by Afreximbank and the African Union.

Also, it added thax Seamfix is a technology company that helps businesses and their customers globally to seamlessly create, verify,, and access trusted digital identities and services. “They build digital identity and compliance infrastructure used by banks, telecoms, and governments. Its products support identity verification, regulatory complianc,,e and secure digital onboarding at scale,” it stated.