Summary
- Mastercard and MTN’s partnership introduces a prepaid virtual card for MTN’s MoMo customers, providing them access to over 100 million acceptance points globally.
- The collaboration enables MoMo merchants to seamlessly accept card payments, enriching the platform’s capabilities for instant cross-border money remittances.
- The agreement includes solutions tailored for SMEs, such as Mastercard’s SME-in-a-Box
Mastercard and MTN have partnered to introduce a prepaid virtual card to 13 African markets, including Benin, Nigeria, South Africa, and Rwanda. This card expands international reach for remittance services, and enhanced solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
One of the main outcomes of this partnership is the launch of a prepaid virtual card tailored for MTN’s MoMo customers. This provides MoMo users with access to over 100 million acceptance points worldwide. This move helps advance financial inclusion in Africa, where only 43% of the population is banked, and the majority of payments are still conducted in cash.
The collaboration will empower MoMo merchants to accept card payments, enriching the platform’s capabilities for instant cross-border money remittances. As part of this initiative, both virtual and physical Mastercard companion cards will be added to every MoMo wallet, offering users international access and the ability to transact securely on a global scale.
The agreement brings solutions tailored for SMEs, including Mastercard’s SME-in-a-Box—a low-cost payment solution enabling small business owners to establish an online presence and accept various digital payments. This will boost customer experience, reduce business costs, and foster growth and innovation for SMEs across the continent.
By using Mastercard’s technology, the partnership seeks to strengthen local infrastructure for digital payments. This infrastructure will support potential expansions in transaction volumes in the future. MoMo wallet users will gain global access through virtual and physical Mastercard companion cards. In addition to this, Mastercard will provide its cybersecurity solutions to MTN’s operations, fostering customer loyalty and trust in the ever-evolving digital financial landscape.
What They Said
“Our innovation strategy is based on collaboration. We are very proud of our partnership with MTN that will enable digital commerce for millions of people in Africa. In addition, mobile money solutions can be greatly beneficial for SMEs, enabling growth through seamless commercial operations, wider payments acceptance, access to affordable credit, and secure digital tools,” said Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President, Market Development EEMEA, Mastercard.
“When there is a mutual vision – in this case to bring access, progress, financial inclusion, and prosperity to people – the road to partnership is a simple one. We look forward to working with Mastercard as a partner that is also committed to the enablement of more people and businesses through the collaboration into best-in-class apps, superior user experiences, safe transactions, secure remittances, new use cases, and expanded acceptance,” said Serigne Dioum, Group CEO, MTN Fintech.
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