According to a joint statement released on Thursday, Mastercard and MTN Group Fintech have signed a historic agreement with the goal of providing payment cards to all MTN MoMo users.
Through this partnership, every MoMo wallet will have access to both virtual and physical Mastercard companion cards, giving consumers access to a global network of more than 100 million acceptance points.
All 60 million monthly active MoMo wallets in the following 13 countries—South Africa, Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Republic of Guinea, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia—will receive these cards.
According to the companies, owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) now have access to solutions for opening an online store. This covers digital card acceptance, Tap-on-Phone solutions, and QR enablement.
Furthermore, card payments can be accepted by MoMo businesses and users at standard payment terminals.
Vice President of Market Development for Mastercard in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Amnah Ajmal, expressed satisfaction in the collaboration that makes digital commerce possible for millions of Africans.
According to CEO of MTN Group Fintech Serigne Dioum, MoMo customers would benefit from the partnership with best-in-class apps, enhanced user experiences, safe transactions, secure transfers, innovative use cases, and wider adoption.
More than US$2 billion in transactions are performed daily, which is more than 40% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP. Mastercard and MTN observed this growing demand for international remittance services. They emphasized that there are no indications that the US$1 billion in foreign remittances made through mobile money wallets in 2020 will decline from their 65% annual growth in the previous year.
