Viyona Fintech, an NPCI-certified Technology Service Provider (TSP), has announced plans to roll out its Viyona Tap and Pay platform to extend its payment technologies to African markets, positioning Zimbabwe as its initial entry point for sub-Saharan deployment. According to the latest announcement, the Hyderabad-based company is currently in discussions with the Government of Zimbabwe to support this strategic rollout. The move aligns with the upcoming rollout of Viyona Tap & Pay, an NFC-based SoftPOS solution designed to turn commercial Android smartphones into contactless payment terminals, eliminating hardware costs for small businesses.
As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, Zimbabwe's high digital payment adoption surpassing ₹200 billion in monthly electronic transactions makes it an ideal testing ground for Tap & Pay technology before broader regional scaling. Ravindranath Yarlagadda, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Viyona Fintech, emphasized that this high digital payment adoption rate positions Zimbabwe as an optimal market for their technology rollout. In Zimbabwe, Viyona has identified local acquiring banks, PSPs, and merchant networks as target integration partners for its initial African rollout.
The expansion targets Africa's rapidly expanding digital finance market, with Africa's instant payment systems processed approximately $2 trillion in transaction value across 64 billion transactions in 2024, according to the AfricaNenda State of Inclusive Instant Payment Systems in Africa 2025 report. The report identified 36 live instant payment systems across 31 countries as of June 2025. As an established NPCI-certified partner, Viyona brings battle-tested experience in routing and scaling UPI-compliant platforms, enabling the company to offer central banks, acquiring banks, and local payment service providers (PSPs) plug-and-play merchant acceptance technology built to connect natively with NIPL-backed switches.
Viyona is timing its regional entry to capitalize on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's ongoing negotiations with NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) to license India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) technology as a national payment rail. As African central banks seek to adopt "Made in India" public infrastructure, Viyona is stepping in to deliver the companion merchant infrastructure. The company's approach focuses on leveraging Zimbabwe's advanced digital payment infrastructure to validate their technology before broader deployment across sub-Saharan Africa. Full commercial rollout of Viyona Tap & Pay across India and select African markets will follow standard payment network certifications and regional regulatory clearances.
