master card and MTN Group Fintech has signed a multimarket agreement to introduce a prepaid virtual card to the mobile operator's Mobile Money (MoMo) ecosystem.
This will allow users to make POS payments using their MoMo wallet, and will allow merchants to accept card payments.
“MTN's prepaid virtual card customized for MoMo customers will give customers access to over 100 million acceptance points worldwide,” MTN said in a statement on Thursday.
“This will enable MoMo merchants to seamlessly accept card payments, enhancing the platform’s instant cross-border remittance services and capabilities.”
According to MTN, 60 million of its 290 million subscribers have monthly active MoMo wallets.
The agreement with Mastercard affects subscribers in 13 markets: Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Eswatini, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Republic of Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.
The deal follows Mastercard's acquisition of a minority stake in MTN Group FinTech, an investment valued at US$200 million, announced earlier this month. The partnership aims to “support several mobile money programs across Africa” and further bring about 43% of the continent's 1.3 billion unbanked population into the financial mainstream.
On the retailer side, small and medium-sized businesses using MoMo will have access to additional tools, including Mastercard's SME-in-a-Box solution. It will help small businesses move online by supporting low-cost and widespread acceptance of digital payments.
Read: MTN fintech division seeks more investors
Mastercard has said it wants to include 1 billion people and 50 million small businesses in the global digital economy by 2025, and said its collaboration with MTN is part of this drive. – © 2024 News Central Media
