Yellow Card raises $40m to put banks on stablecoin rails
SC Ventures, the Sony Innovation Fund, Polychain Capital and Blockchain Capital back the pan-African payments company's dollar-account business, taking its equity financing past $120m as it moves into Latin America and the Asia-Pacific.
What happened
Yellow Card said on 4 August that it had closed a $40m strategic funding round from SC Ventures by Standard Chartered, the Sony Innovation Fund, Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital and further unnamed strategic investors, taking total equity financing past $120m. The money goes to Global USD Accounts, its dollar account for businesses, and to the stablecoin rails that connect it to other markets; CoinDesk reports the company will add stablecoin and local payment options in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific. The company says it supports more than 50 local currencies, holds licences, authorisations or registrations in 22 jurisdictions, and has handled more than $10bn of transactions since it was founded in 2016. 'Money should move at the speed and convenience of the internet, and increasingly, banks want to move with it,' said Chris Maurice, Yellow Card's chief executive and co-founder.
Why it matters
The product is not retail crypto trading but a dollar account for businesses in markets where correspondent banking is thin and the local currency is hard to convert, with stablecoins as the settlement layer underneath it. That a global bank's venture arm is buying into the rail rather than building one is the more interesting half: SC Ventures belongs to Standard Chartered, which was named the following day among the institutions expanding their use of USDC and as a founding validator of Circle's Arc. Fintech Global reports that Visa and Western Union already use the accounts, which puts two incumbent money-movement businesses on the customer side of an African company's stablecoin rail.
What is not settled
No valuation was disclosed. CoinDesk reports, from a person close to the matter, that it is well above the $200m the company was worth in 2022 but short of $1bn, and that neither the chief executive nor the company would confirm a figure. The release names no lead investor and publishes no revenue, no customer count and no split between the businesses the money is going to. Maurice told CoinDesk he expects payments eventually to move directly between banks onchain, with companies like his out of the flow, which is an argument against the position this round funds. Nothing outside the trade and regional press appears to have covered the round.
Institutions in this story
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Yellow Card
Payment provider
Closed a $40m strategic round on 4 August, taking equity financing past $120m, to scale Global USD Accounts and extend its stablecoin rails into Latin America and the Asia-Pacific. Says it supports more than 50 local currencies, is licensed, authorised or registered in 22 jurisdictions and has handled more than $10bn of transactions since 2016.
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Standard Chartered PLC
Bank
Invested through SC Ventures, its venture arm, whose chief executive Alex Manson said 'Stablecoins are here to stay, but their adoption will depend on robust infrastructure and clear real-world utility'.
On the record
Yellow Card raises $40m for its stablecoin dollar accounts
Yellow Card closed a $40m strategic round on 4 August 2026 from SC Ventures by Standard Chartered, the Sony Innovation Fund, Polychain Capital and Blockchain Capital, taking total equity financing past $120m. The money goes to Global USD Accounts, its dollar account for businesses, and to extending its stablecoin rails into Latin America and the Asia-Pacific.