Flutterwave has named Polygon as its primary blockchain partner to power cross-border payments across its network. The collaboration is designed to deliver near-instant settlements and materially lower costs compared with traditional correspondent banking. It targets African businesses that move funds internationally and want faster cash conversion, simpler payouts, and better operating visibility.
Partnership Overview
Under the agreement, Flutterwave will use Polygon’s Proof-of-Stake network as a default rail for international transfers and settlements. Stablecoins will serve as the value vehicle on chain, with commonly used tokens such as USDC and USDT enabling fiat-pegged movement. The company plans a controlled pilot for select enterprise merchants in the fourth quarter of 2025, followed by broader availability for Flutterwave for Business and the Send App in 2026.
How the Rails Work
Instead of relying only on legacy banking routes, funds are tokenized as stablecoins, transmitted over Polygon, and converted back to local currency where required. Polygon’s architecture is optimized for high throughput and low fees, which supports short confirmation times and predictable costs. The stablecoin layer minimizes volatility risk while preserving the speed benefits of blockchain settlement.
Benefits for Businesses
Faster settlement can shrink days-long waiting periods to seconds, which helps merchants recycle working capital more efficiently. Lower fees can improve contribution margins on high-frequency cross-border flows, including vendor payments and marketplace payouts. Reduced friction in reconciliation should also cut operational overhead from delayed or mismatched transfers.
Cost and Speed
Polygon transactions typically clear at cents-level fees, a profile that contrasts with percentage-based charges on many remittance and card-based routes. By compressing both time and cost, the rail can make smaller international payments economically viable at scale. The approach is particularly relevant for multi-country sellers, contractor networks, and platforms with frequent cross-wallet disbursements.
Rollout and Availability
Flutterwave will begin with settlements and cross-border transfers, then add stablecoin-based collections in a later phase. The initial pilot in late 2025 will validate performance and controls at enterprise scale before a wider release in 2026. The company says availability will extend across its merchant tools and its consumer Send App once pilots are completed.
Merchant Experience and Local Settlements
Merchants will not need on-chain expertise because Flutterwave will abstract token flows and conversions behind existing dashboards and APIs. Users continue to operate in familiar interfaces while gaining faster settlement times and lower transfer costs. Local currency settlement remains supported, with the blockchain rail focused on accelerating international legs rather than replacing domestic payouts.
Market Context
Stablecoins are pegged to fiat currencies, which makes them suitable for value transfer without the volatility seen in many crypto assets. Polygon’s network is widely used for real-world asset and payment use cases and hosts several billion dollars in stablecoin float. This combination has emerged as a common pattern for cross-border payment experiments seeking speed, transparency, and programmability.
Flutterwave’s choice of Polygon positions the company to deliver quicker, cheaper, and more reliable cross-border money movement for African businesses. The phased introduction, starting with a 2025 pilot and broadening in 2026, balances speed to market with operational safeguards. If execution matches the design, the partnership could narrow the gap between payment initiation and usable cash, which is the metric that matters most to merchants.