Mobile Finance

M-Pesa Africa – the mobile money JV between Safaricom and Vodacom Group – says that it’s expanding its partnership with global payment infrastructure provider Thunes to enable users in Kenya and Tanzania to use their M-Pesa wallet to make payments when traveling to China.

MTN Rwanda's fintech arm, Mobile Money Rwanda (MoMo Rwanda), has partnered with payment giant Mastercard to launch a new virtual payment solution in Rwanda.

Madagascar’s three mobile money operators – MVola, Orange Money and Airtel Money – have denounced plans by the government’s Directorate General for Taxes (DGI) to tax mobile money transactions, which they say will discourage financial inclusion and harm the economy.

Mobile money services MTN MoMo in South Africa and EcoCash in Zimbabwe have partnered to provide what are described as effortless direct cash transfers between the two countries.

Globe Telecom president and CEO Ernest Cu said on Monday that unauthorized transactions that affected some GCash wallet users in the Philippines over the weekend were the result of a glitch, and that no funds were lost.

Visa says it is collaborating with QR payment providers across the Asia-Pacific region to kick off a scheme that would enable digital wallet users in the region to make QR payments at merchants when traveling abroad.

Global payment infrastructure provider Thunes said on Tuesday it has expanded its collaboration with Philippine mobile payments platform GCash to enables users to top up their wallet balances directly within the app using funds from UK and European bank accounts.

Mastercard announced on Tuesday it has launched Mastercard Pay Local, a new global service that enables digital wallet users in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East and Africa to pay locally when they travel.

Brazil-based digital bank platform Nubank announced plans on Tuesday to join Brazil's increasingly crowded mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) space in a bid to expand its portfolio beyond financial services.

Hormuud Telecom strengthened its EVC Plus mobile money platform by making it interoperable with MyBank and Agro Bank, with plans to onboard more banks in 2025.

Kenyan and Ethiopian service provider Safaricom has extended its M-Pesa Global service – which enables M-Pesa registered customers to send and receive money globally – to Ethiopia, allowing customers to make mobile money transactions from Kenya to Ethiopia.

Leading financial services platform Mukuru has announced the launch of its new mobile wallet in Malawi, the Mukuru Wallet, which, Mukuru says, is designed to address the growing demand for a convenient, secure, efficient way to manage funds and make money transfers.

MTC Namibia launched its mobile financial service, MTC Maris, as the Namibian government hailed the operator for “stepping ahead” of its rivals, while urging them to follow suit in order to connect the fifth of the population that remains unbanked.

Ericsson announced on Friday announced that it has completed a major tech stack upgrade for Pakistan’s Telenor Microfinance Bank (TMB), giving its mobile wallet easypaisa a cloud-native platform on which to scale up its services.

KaiOS,  whose mobile operating system brings the internet to affordable devices, has announced a partnership with payment giant Mastercard to integrate a range of digital payments solutions for developing markets, beginning with Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria.

Safaricom and Mastercard announced on Thursday that they have signed a partnership to accelerate adoption of payment acceptance and cross-border remittance services in Kenya.

The central banks of Cambodia and Malaysia have launched the first phase of a cross-border payments system that initially enables Cambodian travellers to purchase good and services in Malaysia using QR codes.

A reminder that in large parts of Africa internet connectivity is not always guaranteed comes from PalmPay, a financial platform with over 30 million users on its smartphone app in Nigeria. PalmPay has announced the launch of its USSD code, a service that offers Nigerians an additional way to manage their finances without the need for internet connectivity.

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) says that Mastercard has partnered with its fintech subsidiary U Microfinance Bank (UBank) to issue a new physical and virtual debit card for its mobile financial services platform UPaisa.

International money transfer operator Sasai Money Transfer has announced that it has partnered with Airtel Money, the payments division of operator Airtel, to expand what it describes as its revolutionary offer of free remittances to more African markets, this time targeting Uganda.

Ethio Telecom partnered with financial powerhouse Visa to launch the first Visa digital wallet in Ethiopia, a move the operator claimed modernises remittance and bolster its fintech business.

North Korea’s Pyongyang Information Technology Bureau is reportedly conducting inspections of the country’s electronic payments network to update equipment and stabilize operations in a drive to boost confidence in the country's transition to digital finance.

MTN Nigeria says it has taken full ownership of Mobile Money Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB) after buying the 7.17% share owned by Acxani Capital for around NGN6.95 billion (US$4.36 million).

Paymentology, a card issuing and processing platform, has announced a partnership with Salaam Bank’s Waafi in Somalia.

BnB, a fintech company that says it is committed to revolutionising financial services in Africa, has launched an initiative that seeks to expand international money transfer services in collaboration with operator Lonestar Cell MTN’s MoMo (a mobile money service).

Globe Telecoms’ fintech unit Mynt (Globe Fintech Innovations) gained fresh investments from Ayala Corp and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), a move that will boost the valuation of Mynt to US$5 billion, claimed Globe.

PLDT’s digital unit DigiCo acquired a 10% stake in Bayad Center and the entirety of Multipay Corp, as the operator aims to position itself for the Philippines’ shift to digital payments.

The number of active mobile money accounts in Tanzania has reportedly more than doubled in the last five years up to the end of 2023, according to the latest figures from the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA).

African money transfer company Dahabshiil and Safaricom Ethiopia's M-Pesa have signed a partnership that will enable the Ethiopian diaspora to send money directly to M-Pesa mobile wallets.

Africa-focused cross-border money transfer operator Mama Money partnered with payment processor firm Paymentology and Access Bank to launch a new bank card service that integrates WhatsApp banking.

Mobile money adoption surged 327% in the past five years in Benin showcasing the rising popularity of the technology.

MEA digital commerce firm Network International announced that telecoms operator Airtel has appointed it as an issuing payments processor for its operations across the African continent.

Mobile banking remains the most popular form of banking in Cambodia as mobile-based transactions reportedly continue to grow, while internet transactions are now declining.