One of Africa’s most prominent startups, Flutterwave, is shutting down Barter, a virtual card service it launched in 2017, as the company looks to focus on its enterprise and remittance business subsidiaries.
Barter is a consumer payment product that facilitates personal and small merchant payments within Africa and across its borders, Flutterwave had partnered with Visa, a global payments company, to launch Barter (then GetBarter) in 2017.
However, in a move to revamp its product offerings, Flutterwave announced Barter's permanent closure. Citing evolving customer needs and shifting market trends, the platform will cease operations on March 12.
"While retail remains important to us, our immediate focus is optimising services for businesses and remittance solutions," Flutterwave said.
Flutterwave had emailed users to inform them that after March 12, their Barter accounts would become inactive, and accessing their funds would be impossible.
