After facing a hiccup in its operations in 2022 owing to a chargeback fraud event, Union54, a Zambian fintech firm, is getting ready to launch a super-app called ChitChat in partnership with MasterCard.

ChitChat is a joint project between Union54 and MasterCard, a leading provider of worldwide payments technology. The program intends to make encrypted messaging accessible to people in Africa so they may send messages safely.

In addition, ChitChat, which is scheduled to debut in September 2023, will function as a social commerce platform, providing users with:

• The ability to send money to one another
• Access a USD debit card for internatinal transactions, and
• Make purchases from digital storefronts within the app

Perseus Mlambo, CEO of Union54, said, “We are thrilled to unveil our ChitChat product and at the same time, announce our expanded cooperation with MasterCard.

“We are dedicated to developing a platform that accelerates this because we believe that mobile payments and chat platforms can be a potent driver for growing trade across Africa. We have integrated payments into our chat platform, providing each user with an available USD card under our terms.

Union54 and MasterCard have revealed that they have jointly issued more than 2 million cards to people in Africa as a result of their relationship.

“As we endeavor to create a world without currency, we are thrilled to further our cooperation with Union54. In addition to enabling us to enter new areas, our relationship will give consumers a safe and practical means to access financial services, according to Gabriel Swanepoel, Country Manager at MasterCard, Southern Africa.

Union54 discontinued its services in July 2022 as a result of an alleged chargeback fraud effort of $1.2 billion. Numerous African companies that had previously relied on Union54’s card-issuing services were forced to look for alternatives right once as a result of this occurrence.

Mlambo stated Union54’s goal to use the knowledge gained from the aforementioned incident and their subsequent break to re-enter the African fintech sector in an interview with TechCrunch done in March 2023.

Africa’s first card-issuing API and the first Zambian business to get accepted into YCombinator is Union54.