Maplerad Wins Borderless Payments Provider Award at BAFI

In Short

• Maplerad won Borderless Payments Provider of the Year at the 2026 BusinessDay BAFI Awards.
• The award ceremony took place on October 9, 2026, at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos.
• The BAFI Awards recognise players across Nigeria’s banking and financial services sector.

What Happened

Maplerad, a fintech focused on real-time payments infrastructure, has been named Borderless Payments Provider of the Year at the 2026 BusinessDay BAFI Awards.

The award was presented on October 9 at the Civic Centre in Lagos. The event drew senior executives from banks, payment companies, regulators, policymakers, and other industry stakeholders.

Marvin Ohanwe, Maplerad’s head of business development and sales, accepted the award on behalf of the company.

Borderless payments refers to cross-border payments, which are money transfers that move between countries. For businesses, this often includes paying suppliers abroad, collecting from international customers, and moving funds across multiple currencies.

Why It Matters

Awards do not change product performance on their own, but they can influence trust in a category where credibility matters. Cross-border payments are high risk and operationally complex because they touch foreign exchange rules, banking partners, and compliance checks.

For African businesses trading across borders, reliability and speed are key. Real-time payments infrastructure, meaning software rails that move money quickly and confirm transactions fast, can reduce settlement delays and failed transfers.

Maplerad’s win also highlights the continued demand for payments infrastructure that works across African markets and into international corridors, especially as more startups and SMEs expand beyond one country.