Mobile Finance

Vodacom Tanzania says it has modernised its M-Pesa platform via a US$28 million strategic investment to make its mobile money service more reliable and secure.

Payment giant Mastercard is back in the news in Africa with digital finance announcements affecting consumers in Sierra Leone and businesses in five other African countries.

Global payment infrastructure provider Thunes says it has launched a direct-to-workforce cross-border payout solution that allows businesses to pay remote overseas teams, freelancers and gig workers instantly.

Mobile money transactions have surged to US$2 trillion globally, doubling in value over the past four years, according to the GSMA.

Digicel Samoa announced on Tuesday it’s teamed up with Euronet Worldwide subsidiary Ria Money Transfer to enable people outside of Samoa to transfer money to Digicel’s MyCash mobile wallets.

M-Pesa Ethiopia, the digital financial services arm of operator Safaricom Ethiopia, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Amhara National Regional State Revenue Bureau to enable taxpayers in the region to conveniently pay their taxes using the M-Pesa platform.

Mobile payment-based offerings are growing rapidly across Africa, driven, as ever, by low banking penetration and rapid mobile adoption, a trend underlined by two more announcements – from Egypt and Tunisia – in recent days.

It’s already looking like another busy month for digital payments news in Africa, and notably for payments giant Visa, which has been prominent in recent announcements from Tanzania and Ethiopia.

The continuing relevance of USSD-based transactions is underlined by news from Sudan where the country’s telecommunications ministry is launching a service using USSD that allows citizens to access banking apps without recourse to the internet.

Vodacom Tanzania has claimed to launch Africa’s first mobile money-native contactless payment feature, following a collaboration with Visa and Paymentology to upgrade its M-Pesa app.

M-Pesa Ethiopia last week announced the signing of an agreement with the country’s postal service EthioPost, officially designating EthioPost as the primary agent within the M-Pesa ecosystem.

Kenyan money transfer service Pesalink says it has partnered with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) to ease cross-border payment and speed up regional financial integration.

Pan-African banking group Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and Hub2, a regional fintech infrastructure provider, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to connect Hub2’s network of more than 200 million mobile wallets to Ecobank’s pan-African digital banking platform.

M-Pesa Ethiopia and African AI creator platform Gebeya announced on Wednesday they have launched a subscription package that allows Ethiopians to access AI creation tools and pay for them directly via M-Pesa.

Pan-African infrastructure and services group Axian says it has secured a Decentralised Digital Financial Institution (DFI) license from the Central Bank of Comoros, enabling the creation of a newly established regulated entity operating under a prudential supervisory framework.

The Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) said on Friday it has granted Orange Money a separate license to operate as a mobile money service provider under new regulations requiring telcos to decouple from their mobile money subsidiaries.

Nigerian operators have settled a long-running unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) payment dispute with commercial banks. It seems that, five years after the dispute began, all outstanding payments have now been made.

Telecommunications technology giant Ericsson and Mastercard, a global technology company in the payments industry, have announced a collaboration they claim can reshape how money moves across the world – beginning with the Middle East and Africa.

Du Pay, the digital financial services arm of UAE-based telco du, says it is collaborating with Nepalese digital remittance firm Esewa Money Transfer to promote cross-border payments to Nepalese expats in the UAE.

Safaricom has partnered with the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) to launch Ziidi Trader, a new feature within the M-PESA app that allows customers to buy and sell shares directly from their mobile phones.

Two Zambian operators have announced major digital finance initiatives in the past week, MTN with an eye to the international market and Airtel focusing on in-country payment requirements.

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata said on Wednesday it has integrated GovPay – the government’s digital payment platform for government services – into its eZ Cash mobile money service, enabling users to pay for government services at eZ Cash retail outlets.

Mobile operator U9 (formerly Ooredoo Myanmar) revealed on Tuesday it has signed an MoU with TrueMoney Myanmar to enable broader access to digital financial services for individuals and businesses across the country.

A busy start to the week for payments giant Mastercard has included announcements of major deals in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Veon Group plans to invest US$20 million in its financial services subsidiary Mobilink Microfinance Bank, as the company looks to scale digital banking services in Pakistan.

Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) says it has officially licensed operators Safaricom and Airtel Money Kenya to operate as what are called intermediary service platform providers (ISPPs).

In what is described as a first for the EEMEA region, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and payment giant Mastercard have officially launched Mastercard’s proprietary mobile-first virtual card number (VCN) solution for businesses.

Global digital operator Veon announced on Friday that its financial services subsidiary, Mobilink Microfinance Bank has launched Islamic banking operations in Pakistan, in response to growing customer demand for Shariah-compliant financial services.

The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has launched an interoperable payments platform developed by the Mojaloop Foundation that enables mobile money transfers between mobile operators Lone Star Cell MTN and Orange Liberia.

Orange Money Group, the mobile money service of telecommunications service provider Orange, and payments giant Visa have announced a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating online payments and democratising access to financial services across Africa and the Middle East.

Veon-owned telco Banglalink announced on Thursday it has received regulatory clearance from Bangladesh Bank to operate as a digital payment service provider in Bangladesh as it seeks to expand into digital financial services.

TenPay Global, the cross-border payment platform of Chinese multinational technology conglomerate Tencent, and Mastercard Move, payment giant Mastercard’s money movement business, have announced a collaboration.