Switching to Smile ID allowed Bridgecard to reduce card creation downtime by 41%

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Bridgecard at a glance

Use case

Regulatory Compliance, Fraud Prevention

Industry

Payments

Countries of operation

Angola, Benin, Cote D’Ivoire, Cameroon, Rwanda and more

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Outcomes

41%
Reduced card issuing downtime
216%
Increase in revenue due to expansion
20+
Expansion into markets across Africa

How Bridgecard expanded across Africa with Smile ID

Watch video to learn about Bridgecard and how they have leverage Smile ID's automated verification to increase revenue and expand across Africa.

About Bridgecard

Co-founders Tunde and Festus encountered a significant roadblock in issuing payment cards when they launched their first fintech company. A scarcity of reliable partners existed in the card-issuing space, making it challenging.

There were so few players in the African card-issuing space because of fraud. Fraudulent behaviours, such as chargebacks and identity theft, limited business in the region as their bank partners would kick them out. This problem was so pervasive it led to a decline in the acceptance of card payments in Africa. Now, card payments originating from Africa face higher rejection rates than those from other regions.

To address these challenges, Tunde and Festus founded Bridgecard. Their goal was to eliminate the obstacles African fintech companies face when managing relationships with banks and card issuers. Bridgecard is dedicated to providing seamless card-issuing services to businesses, particularly in Africa.

Their innovative solution allows businesses to issue Mastercard or Visa-branded virtual and physical dollar cards that can be used globally, empowering Africans to access and engage with international services more easily. With a combination of instant customer support, stable KYC checks and a network of backup banks, Bridgecard is quickly becoming known as the most reliable card issuer in Africa.

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Challenges in expanding their card issuing services

Bridgecard faced multiple challenges in expanding their card issuing services in Africa, including the threat of fraud in their industry and the difficulty finding a KYC solution that could perform verifications across Africa

Smile ID's document verification solution was invaluable for Bridgecard's expansion, enabling card services in countries with inadequate or non-existent ID databases by verifying users who would have otherwise failed KYC.

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Partnering with Smile ID

Smile ID's document verification solution proved invaluable for Bridgecard's expansion plans. In countries where ID databases were either inadequate or non-existent, Smile ID's document verification capability enabled Bridge Card to offer card services to users who would have otherwise been unable to pass KYC checks. This extended reach facilitated Bridgecard's expansion into 20 countries, including Cameroon, Rwanda, and South Africa, in under 6 months.

With these additional markets, Bridgecard experienced a remarkable 57% month-to-month growth in card creation and reduced card creation downtime by 41%. All this growth came without any increase in fraudulent activity.

Bridgecard's collaboration with Smile ID revolutionised their card issuing operations, mitigated fraud risks, and fueled their expansion across Africa. Together, Bridgecard and Smile ID empower African businesses and individuals to participate fully in the global digital economy.

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Video snippets

How Smile ID helps Bridgecard solve KYC at scale

Why Bridgecard chose Smile ID's Document Verification

How Bridgecard issues cards safely across Africa

“With Smile ID, we're able to extend our support from just those four countries to over 20 plus. And so now we support Cameroon, Rwanda and South Africa. We've also been able to grow our revenue by over 261% by using Smile ID as a verification partner.”

Tunde AdewoleCEO