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April 17, 2024
On the web
Mastercard and Onafriq Partner to Increase Accessibility to Financial Services Across Africa’s Payment Ecosystem
Onafriq
"Mastercard and Onafriq (previously MFS Africa), a pan-African payments company, have partnered to bring secure, cost-effective, and innovative payment options to consumers as well as small and medium enterprises (SME) across the continent."
April 2, 2024
Top Post
AfricaNenda and GIMAC Convened Workshop to Advance Financial Inclusion in Central Africa
AfricaNenda
"Building upon their commitment to driving financial inclusion and digital innovation across Central Africa, AfricaNenda and GIMAC (Groupement Interbancaire Monétique de l’Afrique Centrale) hosted a transformative workshop in March in Douala."
April 1, 2024
On the wires
ACI Worldwide and Arab Financial Services To Drive Payments Modernization for Banks and Merchants in the Middle East
Business Wire
"AFS, the leading digital payment solutions provider and fintech enabler in the Middle East and Africa, will utilize ACI Enterprise Payments Platform and ACI Payments Orchestration Platform to drive digital payments modernization in the region"
February 28, 2024
On the web
KCB and Mastercard Partner to Expand Payments in East Africa
IBS Intelligence
"Mastercard has announced its partnership with KCB Banking order to provide its customers across the East African region with optimised payment systems. The payment solutions will be rolled out in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda."
February 22, 2024
On the web
South Africa Eyes Stablecoins and Blockchain for Digital Payments
Cointelegraph
"The annual budget of South Africa revealed its treasury’s plan to promote the adoption of digital payments, which includes analyzing stablecoins and blockchain to “improve the lives and livelihoods of marginalized groups.”"
January 17, 2024
On the web
Virtual Cards Gain Traction in South Africa
ITWeb
"Two of the big-four banks have recorded strong growth in the use of virtual cards, as more South African consumers shift to digitally-driven payment methods."
December 18, 2023
On the web
M-Pesa to Offer Tap-To-Pay Card Payments to Over 60 Million Customers
Techpoint Africa
"M-PESA, Safaricom’s mobile money platform, has built on its partnership with Visa to provide tap-to-pay card payments to customers."
November 30, 2023
On the web
Africa’s New Online Foreign Exchange System Will Enable Cross-Border Payments in Local Currencies
Yahoo News
"The high cost of making cross border payments on the African continent has driven governments on the continent to seek options of settling transactions in local currencies giving birth to the Pan-African Payment and Settlement Systems scheduled to go live in 2024."
November 8, 2023
On the web
The State of Inclusive Instant Payment Systems (SIIPS) In Africa
Africa Nenda
"SIIPS 2023 explores the evolution of both the supply and the demand side of instant retail payments. It highlights the challenges and opportunities shaping Africa's payment landscape to motivate investments, partnerships, and progress toward inclusivity."
Instant Payment Systems in Africa Record US$1.2 Trillion Worth of Transactions in 2023
Modern Ghana
"The AfricaNenda report on the State of Inclusive Instant Payment (SIIP) in Africa for the year 2023 indicatesthat as of June this year, instant payment systems (IPSs) in Africa recorded 32 billion transactions valued at awhopping US$1.2 trillion."
October 23, 2023
On the web
Visa, MasterCard Want a Slice of Africa’s Mobile Money
Tekedia
"Africa’s mobile money market is booming, with over 560 million registered accounts and $495.3 billion in transactions in 2020, according to the GSMA. The continent is home to some of the most innovative and successful mobile money services in the world, such as M-Pesa, MTN Mobile Money, Orange Money and Airtel Money."
August 14, 2023
On the web
Wema Bank, Enza Group to Boost e-Commerce: Nigeria
Zawya
"ENZA, the acclaimed new disruptor in the African payments market has announced its strategic partnership with Nigeria’s most innovative bank, Wema Bank."
Mastercard to Purchase a Minority Stake in MTN’s $5.2B Fintech Business
TechCrunch
"Mastercard has agreed to purchase a minority stake in the fintech division of MTN Group, Africa’s largest cellphone provider, which it values at $5.2 billion."
August 1, 2023
On the wires
Flutterwave Rolls Out Send App, Innovative Remittances Solution in the United States and Canada
PR Newswire
"Flutterwave, Africa's leading payments technology company, today announced the launch of its Send App in the United States and Canada. The Send App enables people in the African diaspora to make faster, easier, and more affordable money transfers to families, friends, and loved ones in Africa."
July 27, 2023
On the web
How Innovative Payment Solutions are Shaping South Africa’s Retail Sector
Zawya
"Today’s consumers have access to a myriad of convenient experiences through mobile apps and online platforms, and they expect a similar level of ease when interacting with businesses and specifically payment interactions. Indeed, consumer demand for better and more diverse payment experiences, coupled with the need to trade across multiple channels, is shaping the midmarket retail sector across Africa."
July 11, 2023
On the wires
Flutterwave Launches Tuition to Ease Education Fee Payments for Africans Abroad and on the Continent
PR Newswire
"Flutterwave, Africa's leading payments technology company, has launched Tuition, a new payment product, to allow African users to conveniently pay various fees to educational institutions within Africa and overseas using their local currencies."
June 23, 2023
On the wires
Flutterwave Announces a Five-Year Strategic Technology Agreement with Microsoft
PR Newswire
"Flutterwave a leading African payments technology company today announced it is working with Microsoft to build its next generation platform on Microsoft Azure, powering payments infrastructure across the African continent and beyond."
June 14, 2023
On the web
New Integrated Payment Platform to be Launched in Africa – Moment
Payments Afrika
"MultiChoice Group, Rapyd and General Catalyst today announced a joint venture aimed at developing an integrated payment platform for Africa. The joint venture will operate under a new company, called Moment. Moment offers expanded payment infrastructure for businesses across Africa to help them collect and make payments easier, quicker, and more affordable in any manner that their buyers or suppliers prefer."
June 6, 2023
On the web
NCBA Eyes Safaricom Deal for Ethiopia Digital Banking Launch
Nation
"NCBA Group is in talks with Safaricom and other groups to set up operations in Ethiopia as part of a race to expand its digital banking services in the African region."
On the wires
Flutterwave and Token.io Team Up to Provide Pay By Bank Transfer to Users in UK and EU
PR Newswire
"This collaboration enables Flutterwave to give its African e-commerce merchants enhanced access to UK and EU customers, while Token.io leverages Flutterwave's presence in Africa to enable a Pay By Bank method for businesses in the continent."
June 1, 2023
On the wires
Localramp Revolutionizes Payments in Africa with Instant Stablecoin Settlement and USD Payouts
PR Newswire
"Localramp, a modern Pan-African payment gateway, has launched a service that enables businesses operating within the continent to accept local currencies and instantly receive USDT, which can be withdrawn at any time or converted into USD on the platform."
May 31, 2023
On the web
‘Some Payment Systems in Africa are Surpassing Those in the Western World’
African Business
"In this interview, African Business delves into the world of digital public infrastructures (DPIs) with Michael Wiegand, director of the Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor strategy, and Konstantin Peric, deputy director for platforms."
May 24, 2023
On the web
EBANX: We Will Be Operating in 11 African Countries by the End of the Year
TechCrunch
"For all the talk about emerging markets and their similarities, moves involving African startups expanding to Latin America are rare. Only two significant activities come to mind recently: Migo’s expansion to Brazil and Paga’s planned move to Mexico, their respective second markets outside Africa."
May 18, 2023
On the web
Safaricom Granted License to Operate M-PESA in Ethiopia as the Group Revenue Hits KES 310.9 Billion in FY23
Safaricom
"Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia has today officially been granted the license to operate mobile money services in Ethiopia. The licence, coming seven months after the commercial launch of GSM services. The M-PESA license will open the country to the world’s largest mobile payment system and Africa’s largest Fintech, and the world’s first mobile money transfer system."
May 11, 2023
On the web
Bango, TPAY, and Etisalat Egypt Launch Direct Carrier Billing with Google To Enable IN-APP Purchases and Subscriptions for over 30 million Subscribers
GlobeNewswire News Room
"TPAY, the leading payment provider for the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META), today announces, through its partnership with Bango and Etisalat Egypt, the launch of Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) with Google for over 30 million subscribers. The collaboration will create an easier experience for Android users to purchase apps, games, and digital content on their devices on Google Play."
April 18, 2023
On the web
dLocal Launches New Payment Platform To Boost African E-commerce Transaction
Tech Nova
"dLocal has announced the launch of a new all-in-one payment solution to manage global platform payments in one place. Known as dLocal for Platforms, the end-to-end payment solution will serve marketplaces, on-demand services, and any other platform business models."
April 14, 2023
On the web
API Abuse Highlights Dangers of Unsafe Open Banking Implementation
ITWeb
"With banks in Africa lagging their European counterparts in adopting open banking, inroads are still being made as the promise of fairness, competition and innovation, which are the hallmarks of open banking, remain an attractive proposition for those looking to facilitate the secure exchange of individual and business data held by banks, with authorised third parties."
April 7, 2023
On the web
Africa’s Central Banks Lead the Way, Embrace Open Banking
The Citizen
"Nairobi. Regulators on the continent are developing frameworks that allow customers of traditional banks to engage with third-party service providers via their banking apps - blowing open a multi-billion dollar market. Nigeria in March became the first African country to launch open banking on the continent, after publishing guidelines on how traditional lenders may connect to a global digital market poised to grow from $13.9 billion to $123.7 billion by 2031, according to Allied Market Research."
March 16, 2023
On the web
Kenya’s Smartphone Market is Still Shrinking, with a YoY Decline of 13.5% in Q4 2022
Tech In Africa
"According to the latest data from International Data Corporation (IDC), Kenya’s smartphone market dropped for the second quarter in Q4 2022, with shipments down 13.5% year on year (YoY). In its report, the global technology intelligence firm said that supply shortages and rising prices were the main reasons for the drop. Also, the dollar’s exchange rate went up during the quarter, increasing import costs and street prices, which drove up consumer demand. In the fourth quarter of 2022, Samsung had a 31.7% unit share of Kenya’s smartphone market, making it the market leader. Tecno was in second place with 18.8% of shipments, and Infinix was in third place with 9.2% of shipments."
March 15, 2023
On the web
Cheques from Rival Banks to be Cleared in a Day (Africa)
Business Daily
"Bank customers who pay cheques from rival lenders into their accounts will be able to get the money cleared within one working day in fresh efforts to boost cash flow in the economy. At the moment, the process can take up to three days, removing the discrimination that has for years seen banks clear internal cheques within 24 hours. The reduced clearance period follows an upgrade of the Automated Clearing House System (ACH), the platform used by banks for electronic funds transfers and cheques."
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