Lagos, Nigeria, October 21st, 2026
Cardtonic, the Nigerian-born fintech platform, is finally achieving its long-term ambition to serve customers regardless of their location. In the platform’s latest release, anyone from anywhere in the world can create an account and use its product.
This comes after over five years of serving only Nigerians and Ghanaians, helping them turn unused gift cards into cash, buy gift cards in local currencies, get virtual dollar cards for international payments, and pay bills through the app.
Most dedicated gift card exchange platforms can take extended periods to pay customers for selling their gift cards or don’t accept certain gift card brands. Other times, users with unwanted gift cards are forced to look for buyers on online marketplaces, which comes with certain risks.
Cardtonic wants to bridge these gaps by offering users, regardless of geographic location, a convenient way to convert unwanted gift cards into cash and get paid instantly.
What Users From Anywhere in the World Get With a Cardtonic Account
Users instantly get a USD wallet when they sign up for a Cardtonic account, with the flexibility to create up to five wallets, depending on their spending habits. They can use these wallets to hold funds, make in-app purchases on Cardtonic, pay international bills, or withdraw funds directly to their account.
Here are some of the things anyone can do on Cardtonic:
- Sell their unused gift cards and get paid in USD. Funds land in their Cardtonic USD wallet within a few minutes.
- Buy eSIMs and gift cards and pay both local and international bills, such as airtime top-ups and electricity bills, directly from their USD wallet.
- Get regular and Platinum virtual dollar cards tied directly to their USD wallet. With regular virtual cards, users can make online payments on any international platforms, such as Amazon, Spotify, Netflix, and more. The Platinum virtual card works for contactless payments at any physical store that accepts Apple Pay and Google Pay.
- Transfer funds directly from their wallet to friends’ or family members’ Cardtonic accounts using their username, with no fee.
- Withdraw funds from their USD wallet directly to an external wallet as stablecoins, whether as USDT or USDC.
How Cardtonic’s Global Sign-Up Works
Users worldwide can download the Cardtonic app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store and create a new account.
A user in Germany can sell their unused $100 Amazon gift cards on Cardtonic and get paid instantly in USD. Then they can withdraw the funds directly as stablecoins (USDC or USDT) to an external wallet or spend them directly in Cardtonic’s app.
Another user in Japan can decide to buy eSIMs, gift cards, or top up their data balance on Cardtonic using the funds they receive when they sell their gift cards, or by funding their Cardtonic USD wallet with stablecoins. They simply generate a wallet and send funds to it from an external wallet. Once successful, their Cardtonic USD wallet gets topped up.
African-Based Company Solving Gift Card Global Problems
Cardtonic is an African-based company that has spent the last five years helping thousands of Africans convert gift cards that would otherwise go to waste for instant cash. However, gift card wastage is not only an African problem. In fact, according to Bankrate, the United States alone has about 23 billion worth of unspent gift cards.
Most gift cards are tied to a specific brand and region-locked, so when people receive a gift card for a store they hardly shop at, or one outside their region, they have little or no means to spend it. Some users leave balances on their gift cards because they are too small to spend, and others simply forget to redeem their gift cards, leading to waste.
However, Cardtonic’s gift card exchange offers a convenient way to convert abandoned gift cards into cash and get paid within minutes. Whether a user receives a gift card from a store they rarely shop at or has unused gift cards lying around their room, they can simply open the Cardtonic app, enter their gift card details, sell it, and get paid in USD within minutes.
Wrapping Up
According to Emmanuel Sohe, Cardtonic’s CEO, the company’s goal is to serve customers regardless of their geographic location. With this recent expansion from Africa to global markets, Cardtonic has moved from discussing global expansion to serving customers worldwide.
Behind the scenes, this means restructuring the business to support its intended operations, understanding new customers’ needs, aligning internal policies with market requirements, and acquiring the necessary license. More recently, Cardtonic completed its money service business registration with FINTRAC, giving it the legal green light to operate in the western market.
Now, whether a user is based in Canada, Germany, India, South Africa, or Nigeria, they can use the Cardtonic app to convert their unused gift cards to cash and make local and international payments with ease.
About information
Cardtonic is Africa’s leading platform for virtual dollar cards, eSIMs, gift card trading, bill payments, and gadget shopping. Available on Web, Android, and iOS.
Media Contact
Cardtonic PR Team
