To provide digital tools for safe mobile payments to millions of people and small companies throughout Africa, Mastercard and MTN Group have signed a multi-market agreement that might signal the start of a new chapter in their partnership. With 60 million active monthly MoMo (Mobile Money) wallets and 290 million subscribers overall, MTN is a dominant player in 13 African markets, including Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Republic of Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia.
According to a statement issued on Thursday, the agreement helps MTN realize its goal of being the premier fintech platform in Africa for both customers and merchants by utilizing Mastercard’s state-of-the-art technology and capabilities. This latest event comes after Mastercard and MTN recently reached a deal for a minority investment into MTN Group Fintech, the division of Africa’s biggest mobile network operator dedicated to digital financial services.
By the deal, each MoMo wallet will come with a physical and virtual Mastercard companion card, giving customers access to more than 100 million acceptance places globally and allowing MTN to expand globally. To increase client loyalty and trust, Mastercard will offer MTN’s operations access to its cybersecurity solutions in addition to giving worldwide access.
Additionally, by enabling small business owners to move their operations online and accept a variety of digital payments from clients, the partnership will provide SMEs with payment acceptance options, such as Mastercard’s SME-in-a-Box. With this effort, company expenses will be decreased, opportunities for expansion and innovation will be opened up, and customer satisfaction will be improved. Solutions including digital card acceptance, Tap on Phone, QR code enablement, and e-commerce shop setup will be available to SME owners.
In addition to expressing delight in their cooperation with MTN and stressing the potential of mobile money solutions for SMEs, Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President of Market Development EEMEA, Mastercard, emphasized the importance of collaboration in their innovation approach. MTN Fintech Group CEO Serigne Dioum reiterated Ajmal’s remarks, highlighting the partnership’s contribution to facilitating safe digital payments for people and companies throughout Africa.
In Africa, home to more than 1.3 billion people, just 43% of people have bank accounts, and cash accounts for more than 90% of all payments and transactions. Still, forty-five percent of people have mobile money accounts. To help more people enter the financial mainstream by enabling payments over international platforms, Mastercard and MTN have worked together on several mobile money initiatives throughout Africa over the previous five years.
