ThetaRay announced that PAPSS, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, will use its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and screening technology for the settlement of cross-border payments in Africa, estimated to be valued at over $200 billion.
“As PAPSS rapidly scales to spur economic growth and prosperity across Africa, it is critical we ensure financial crimes are effectively managed and malicious persons can’t take advantage of legitimate transaction routes,” said Mike Ogbalu, CEO of PAPSS, in a statement. “ThetaRay’s AI-powered AML solution is uniquely suited for this challenge given its accuracy and efficiency to empower a high level of trust both of transactions and the people making them.”
ThetaRay uses unsupervised and semi-supervised learning AI techniques for transaction monitoring, sanctions screening and customer risk assessment, and the cybersecurity firm provides financial crime-fighting technology to fintechs and banks around the world including Santander, Travelex, Payoneer, Onafriq (previously MFS Africa) among others. Established in 2022, PAPSS is a cross-border, financial market infrastructure enabling payment transactions across Africa as part of the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
PAPSS is the brainchild of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Africa’s trade finance institution, whose mission includes stimulating the expansion, diversification and development of African trade and also helped design the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility in a step towards repo markets on the continent. PAPSS works in collaboration with Africa’s central banks to provide a payment and settlement service to which commercial banks and licensed payment service providers across the region can connect as ‘Participants’.
“Enabling efficient and effective growth of cross-border payments is fundamental to Africa’s overall economic development but requires building a trusted AML regime to underpin it” said Peter Reynolds, CEO of ThetaRay, in a statement. “We know it is absolutely possible to make African cross-border payments faster, cheaper, more transparent and inclusive, while maintaining safety, security and trust. ”