Onafriq, _Able, and Visa Expand Visa Flex Credential Credit

In Short

Onafriq, _able, and Visa have signed a partnership to expand Visa Flex Credential across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

What Happened

Onafriq said it is collaborating with _able and Visa to help financial institutions roll out Visa Flex Credential across the CEMEA region.

Visa Flex Credential is a card feature that lets one card switch between multiple funding sources. In simple terms, it can let a customer use the same card as debit (spending their own money), prepaid (spending stored value), or credit (borrowing) depending on how the issuer sets it up.

The partnership focuses on helping banks and other issuers add credit options on top of existing debit and prepaid card portfolios. The goal is to make credit access feel familiar, because many consumers already have a card but cannot use it to access formal credit.

Under the collaboration, Onafriq will provide payment processing support for eligible prepaid card implementations and connect participating institutions to its pan-African payments infrastructure. _able will provide credit enablement infrastructure, meaning the technology that helps a financial institution launch and manage credit products, including areas like risk management and portfolio performance.

Why It Matters

Debit and prepaid card adoption has risen in many African markets, but formal credit penetration remains low. If issuers can extend credit through cards people already carry, they may reduce onboarding friction and increase usage.

For banks, the promise is a simpler implementation path by combining Visa’s network, Onafriq’s processing and payments rails, and _able’s credit platform. The hard part will be responsible lending, because adding a credit layer still requires strong underwriting, clear pricing, and good collections practices.

If adoption grows, Visa Flex Credential could become another route for banks and fintech partners to bundle payments, credit, and savings into a single card-based experience.