President Bio gets Flot Ultra Black Card No. 001

Freetown, Sierra Leone — 9 September 2026 — His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio received the first Flot Ultra Black Card on Tuesday evening, turning him into Card No. 001 and symbolically opening Sierra Leone’s latest homegrown gateway to the global financial system. Ahead of the full public launch of flot.ai, the Flot team presented the Visa-branded card, issued in partnership with Zenith Bank Sierra Leone, to the President at State House.
“It was a conscious decision to give the first card to the Head of State. The Flot founders say it reinforces the project’s goal: to provide Sierra Leoneans with locally-built financial infrastructure that provides easy, safe access to international payments and travel without the need for physical cash. For many Sierra Leoneans, travelling abroad has meant long queues for limited foreign exchange, carrying large sums of cash across borders and routing journeys through costly, distant hubs. Flot is trying to break out of those routines.
The Flot card enables a completely cashless travel experience, saving travellers the hassle of carrying foreign currency and easing the burden on the government and banks of providing hard currency. Cardholders can transact wherever Visa is accepted, giving travellers a safer, more convenient way to spend abroad.
Flot’s travel product aims to make Freetown International Airport a viable, competitive departure point for Sierra Leonean travellers. Officials pointed to immediate cost savings on key routes, with a trip to China that previously cost $2,800 now costing $1,600 under the Flot arrangement — giving back $1,200 to each trader or business traveller on one of the country’s most important commercial links.
President Bio said at the presentation that “this type of financial innovation speaks directly to our vision of Sierra Leone’s place in the world.” “When our citizens can travel cashless, transact globally and fly affordably from their own airport, we not only strengthen their opportunities but our nation’s competitiveness. “I say kudos to Flot and Zenith Bank for building this here, for Sierra Leoneans.
David Kpakima, CEO of Open Banking Hub, the company behind Flot,  described the moment as “a source of deep pride”. “Flot was founded on the simple belief that Sierra Leoneans deserve the same ease, dignity and access in managing their money as anyone else in the world,” he said. “From cashless travel to cheaper routes for our business community, this is just the beginning – and the best is yet to come.”
Flot, Zenith Bank, and Visa reaffirm their commitment to high service standards and a superior customer experience as they work to expand financial opportunities for Sierra Leoneans.