Tulupay, a Fintech Inclusion Holdings company, focused on pan-African payments and financial-services infrastructure with active operations in Estonia and footprints in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, and other markets, today announces the prelaunch of its Financial Operating System (FOS), A unified financial ecosystem that bridges Web2 and Web3 infrastructure rails to deliver a highly interoperable, secure, and advanced financial ecosystem across Africa.
Positioned as a seamless foundational infrastructure for the next generation of Africa’s finance, Tulupay’s Financial Operating System is being developed to bring together Traditional Banking, Fiat Accounts, Digital Wallets, Mobile Money, Blockchain-based settlement networks, Stablecoins, CBDC operators, and regulators onto a unified API layer and interoperability fabric; re-engineering Payments, Remittance, Trading, Capital Raising, and Investment for Individuals, Businesses, and Institutions. The company describes the project as part of an effort to build what it and its partners characterize as Africa’s first interoperable Financial Operating System (FOS).
Felix Achibiri, Founder of Tulupay, emphasized the mission behind the innovation:
“Africa still struggles with fragmented payment rails, high remittance costs, and the absence of a single infrastructure that connects banks, mobile money, and blockchain networks. As cross-border transfers remain slow and expensive, and as more African central banks move toward CBDCs, the need for a unifying, interoperable operating system has never been more urgent.”
He added that Tulupay has been built to deliver that missing technological infrastructure bridge, reimagining how Africa connects with both the traditional and digital financial world, creating a borderless financial system where money, identity, and assets move seamlessly, and Africa leads in the global digital economy. “We are not just building another fintech app; we’re laying the infrastructure for Africa’s $3.4T AfCFTA trade potential.”
Executive Vice-President, Lavina Ramkissoon added: “We’re building the infrastructure that Africa’s future financial services will run on.”
What to expect from Tulupay’s Financial Operating System (FOS):
● Compliance & Identity (Tulu Compliance & Tulu Identity): A modular, privacy-preserving KYC/AML and digital identity layer for both Web2 and Web3 actors. Built on W3C Verifiable Credentials, Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and secured by Hedera Hashgraph’s aBFT consensus, Tulu Identity gives users a self-owned, portable wallet to control their data using zero-knowledge proofs in verifying eligibility without revealing sensitive personal data. For enterprises, this means 90% fraud reduction, 70% lower onboarding costs, and 2-second verification from education credentials and employment history to financial KYC and government IDs, all while remaining fully compliant and auditable. In close collaboration with The Hashgraph Group (THG), the Swiss-based Web3 & AI technology company operating within the Hedera ecosystem, Tulu Identity provides the secure, compliant, portable trust layer that enables seamless onboarding, cross-border verification, and regulatory alignment across the entire FOS.
● Payment Rails Interoperability hub (Tulu Switch): A switching and settlement infrastructure that connects Traditional Banking, Digital Fiat Wallets, Mobile Money, Blockchain-based settlement networks, Stablecoins, CBDC operators, through a unified API layer. Regulators are integrated via a permissioned compliance fabric. For developers, this means one API to send, receive, and settle payments across any African payment system with automatic FX and real-time reconciliation.
● The Pan-African Trade Gateway (ATG): Branded as Tulu Gateway – enhances cross-border trade by combining tokenization of trade documents (invoices, warehouse receipts, letters of credit) with legally enforceable smart contracts under a mutual recognition framework between participating African countries. This creates a frictionless trade corridor where an SME can receive an order, have their invoice financed against verified buyer credit, ship goods with customs-ready digital documents, and receive instant payment via regulated stablecoins, with automated foreign-exchange conversion to the local currency at final settlement.
● Multi-Asset Custody & Wallet (Tulu Wallet & Tulu Purse): A unified custody and wallet infrastructure comprising two complementary products: Tulu Wallet for multi-crypto assets (stablecoins, cryptocurrencies, tokenized real-world assets) and Tulu Purse for multi-fiat currencies (traditional fiat, CBDCs, mobile money balances, vouchers, and loyalty points). Together, they deliver a single, seamless user experience for managing and moving value across digital and traditional currencies in real time. Users can instantly swap between fiat and crypto within the same interface, while institutions benefit from institutional-grade custody, real-time reconciliation, and support for both Web2 and Web3 settlement rails.
● Tokenization & Exchange Infrastructure (Tulu Asset / Tulu Exchange): A dual-layer platform comprising Tulu Asset – an institutional-grade tokenization engine for converting both real-world physical assets (e.g., diamonds and real estate) and financial assets (e.g., trade invoices and commodities) into programmable digital tokens, and Tulu Exchange, a hybrid decentralized / centralized exchange (DEX/CEX) that enables seamless trading of tokenized assets, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and CBDCs. The hybrid model combines the liquidity and speed of a centralized order book with the self-custody, transparency, and settlement finality of decentralized protocols.
● Interoperable Blockchain (Tulu Chain): A purpose-built, regulatory-compliant layer-1 blockchain that is being designed as the financial hub that connects traditional finance (Web2) and decentralized ecosystems (Web3) within a unified, scalable framework. Serving as the foundational backbone of Tulupay’s Financial Operating System (FOS). Tulu Chain is optimized for real-world financial use cases: cross-border settlement, hybrid DEX/CEX order matching, compliant token issuance, and seamless fiat-crypto interoperability, all while maintaining full auditability and permissioned compliance layers for regulators.
Stefan Deiss, Co-Founder & CEO of The Hashgraph Group, added: “Tulupay’s approach combines the convergence of advanced technologies with regulatory compliance to ensure the institutional adoption of its production-ready financial solutions that will empower Africa’s future financial ecosystem, leveraging Hedera as the underlying trust infrastructure layer of the digital economy.”
This announcement of Tulupay’s Pan-African Financial Operating System (FOS) coincides with the recent notification by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria that Tulupay has been approved to participate in the FinTech Incubation Program, to obtain a regulatory license for digital assets custody, asset tokenization, and digital assets exchange.
Also, Danny Clement, CEO of Blockgration Incorporated Canada, expressed his confidence in the transformative power of Tulupay’s Financial Operating System.
Tulupay is working closely with financial institutions, development partners, merchants, regulators, developers, and start-ups through its pre-launch pilots, collaborating to shape the future of Africa’s finance.
Website: https://tulupay.com/
