You can make international payments without buying dollars now!

Back in January 2017, I came across a tweet about a virtual card, that would let me pay for anything, anywhere online [provided MasterCard was accepted], that Flutterwave was testing.

About a week later, I sent an email to the digital payment company’s founder Iyinoluwa Aboyeji (you may know him better as the guy that co-founded Andela) requesting for a test run of the virtual card. I was obliged.

To give a bit of a backstory, Nigeria has officially been in a recession for about a year and some months and that has caused some major forex problems. Several Central Bank policies later, Nigerians (including myself) could no longer shop on Amazon and Asos or pay for music subscription services like AppleMusic or VOD platforms like Netflix.

That’s where Flutterwave and Barter, an American online payments company that generates MasterCard virtual cards, come into the picture. Both companies have partnered to offer Nigerians, Kenyans and Ghanaians, a way to pay online in US Dollars while funding their cards in their local currency.

To make this happen, Barter will leverage on Flutterwave’s virtual card API and platform. Users will be able to fund their cards from their local bank accounts in Nigerian Naira, Ghanaian Cedis, Kenyan Shilling or US Dollars.

ALSO READ: Iyinoluwa Aboyeji's new payments startup launches out of Y Combinator

Apart from being able to pay for subscription services (Apple Music, Deezer etc), users will also be able to conduct online shopping activities and pay bills or give Barter’s virtual cards as gifts.

From the business side, companies can create as many virtual cards as they need, fund those cards with specific amounts and track each card’s usage from one central dashboard.

“Bringing Barter to this market continues our drive to open up Africa to global markets and give African consumers the best payments experience possible. We will continue to work with our partners across the world to achieve that vision. Africans can now trade internationally with Barter cards — improving their lives and businesses,” says Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, whose company makes it possible for Barter to operate in Nigeria.

Now, there’s an awesome solution for all your online international payment needs. Best part is you can fund these virtual cards in your local currency (directly from your Naira card or bank transfer), create as many as you want and create cards for single or multiple use.

Amazon, Asos, here I come!