In a region where innovation often races ahead of regulation, the latest fintech fallout in Ghana highlights a growing tension between central banks and crypto-native startups. Yellow Card, a prominent U.S.-headquartered stablecoin payments platform operating across Africa, has entered a high-profile partnership with Visa — days after a public dressing-down by Ghana’s central bank.
The move, which sees Yellow Card and Visa collaborating on stablecoin use cases in Africa and other emerging markets, is billed as a step forward for financial inclusion. But the timing raises questions: is this a strategic pivot, or a subtle sidestep from an increasingly complex regulatory environment in Ghana?
“Traditional payment companies continue to question not if they need a stablecoin strategy, but how quickly they can deploy one,” said Chris Maurice, Yellow Card’s CEO, in a joint statement with Visa. “We are thrilled to partner with Visa to help realize the potential of stablecoin technology in emerging economies.”
Visa’s Godfrey Sullivan, SVP for CEMEA, echoed the enthusiasm: “As more players in the payments ecosystem explore this powerful new technology, Visa stands ready to help our partners navigate the transformation.”
Just days earlier, Yellow Card found itself on the receiving end of a public notice from the Bank of Ghana (BoG). Issued June 10, the circular warned against “unlicensed digital platforms,” explicitly naming YellowPay — a stablecoin-based payments service promoted by Yellow Card — as operating outside Ghana’s regulatory perimeter.
More curiously, the BoG alleged that Yellow Card was involved in a joint effort with an obscure player known as HanyPay to circulate a questionable digital currency called the “AKL Lumi,” issued by an entity calling itself the “Africa Diaspora Central Bank” (ADCB). Neither HanyPay nor ADCB are recognized or licensed by the Bank of Ghana. And according to Yellow Card, neither should they be.
The startup fired back with an emphatic rebuttal, flatly denying any affiliation with HanyPay and lamenting the BoG’s approach. “It is most unfortunate that the Bank of Ghana determined to publish this notice,” said Craig Stoehr, General Counsel at Yellow Card. “Yellow Card Ghana clearly communicated the above-mentioned facts to representatives of the Bank well in advance.”
According to Yellow Card, HanyPay had indeed reached out in 2024 to explore a partnership, starting an onboarding process that never reached completion. Still, in February 2025, HanyPay released a press statement claiming it had sealed a deal with Yellow Card. That claim, says Yellow Card, was false then — and remains false now. The company reiterated its position in a formal letter to the Bank of Ghana dated June 5, just five days before the central bank’s public notice.
The situation is a microcosm of a larger issue in African fintech: the blurry line between genuine innovation and regulatory red flags. Ghana, with its ambitious digital finance agenda, has struggled to police this line without sometimes appearing heavy-handed — or, at the very least, poorly informed.
Founded in 2019 in Nigeria, Yellow Card has processed over $6 billion in stablecoin transactions across Africa. It holds regulatory approvals in Botswana, South Africa, and several European markets, and has raised capital from the likes of Coinbase and Block (formerly Square). The company also touts its progressive workplace demographics, noting that 45% of its workforce are women — a stat it eagerly includes in nearly every press release, whether the topic is HR policy or stablecoin integration.
BoG has long been sensitive to fintech-related risks. In 2023, it fined several payment service providers for onboarding microcredit firms without adequate due diligence. And earlier this year, it mandated Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) for all PSP partnerships — essentially a “no strangers allowed” policy for Ghana’s financial sector.
The central bank is also haunted by ghosts of financial fiascos past. Ghanaians still remember the Menzgold saga — a pseudo-investment scheme that collapsed spectacularly — making BoG justifiably wary of unvetted actors promising “financial inclusion” without meaningful safeguards.
Yellow Card claims to be one of the loudest cheerleaders for regulation. It backed Ghana’s 2024 draft framework on digital assets and claims to have helped design similar laws in Kenya, Zambia, Morocco, and Rwanda. What it wants, it insists, is clarity — not chaos.
But clarity can be slow to arrive. Regulators, meanwhile, face the difficult task of encouraging innovation while filtering out fraud — a balancing act that gets messier when public notices carry vague or contested allegations.
Whether Yellow Card’s new partnership with Visa marks a long-term shift away from Ghana or a diplomatic timeout remains unclear. But one thing is certain: in Africa’s fast-moving digital finance space, fintechs will continue to push the boundaries — and regulators will continue to draw lines in the sand, sometimes just after the fact.