Pan-African microfinance lender Carbon Finance has extended its partnership with banking technology vendor Mambu to drive expansion and expand its product portfolio.

Carbon hopes to use Mambu’s technology to offer a full suite of banking products and services and launch Carbon Zero, its buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) offering.

Carbon was founded in 2012 and began its operations as a lending platform in Nigeria.

The lender secured a banking licence in 2020 and now offers a zero-fee account, loans, money transfers, savings, payments and investments offerings among others.

Mambu noted that the ability to launch new products and features quickly is a competitive advantage for Carbon.

Its new BNPL offering is aimed at enabling customers to split payments and access products and services into areas such as healthcare, finance, wellness and travel.

Carbon Finance CEO Chijioke Dozie said: “We engaged Mambu a decade ago because it ticked all the boxes as a cloud banking platform. We were looking for great customer service and a robust cloud-native platform.

“Combining Mambu with our architecture allows us to continue scaling and make a real difference to the lives of our customers. We see a future where modern banking experiences are accessible to all, and this further collaboration with Mambu takes us one step closer to that vision.”

Mambu VP customer success Peter Richmond said: “Carbon is a long-standing and valued customer. Teaming up with our platform solves real pain points, empowering Carbon to offer modern banking experiences to its customers. We look forward to strengthening our partnership and helping Carbon as it expands its product offering.”

Earlier this year, Mambu joined forces with Commonwealth Bank of Australia to provide technical support for the latter’s digital mortgage brand Unloan.