Telecom
MTN, Mastercard Partner to Accelerate Mobile Money Payment Across Africa
Mastercard and MTN Group Fintech have signed an agreement to provide all MTN MoMo customers with payment cards.
In a joint statement on Thursday, the companies said a virtual and physical Mastercard companion card would be added to every MoMo wallet, allowing users access to over 100 million acceptance locations globally.
“The partnership will use Mastercard’s cutting-edge technology and capabilities to support MTN’ ‘s ambition to become Africa’s largest fintech platform for both merchants and consumers,” the companies said.
“This follows Mastercard and MTN’s recent agreement for a minority investment into MTN Group Fintech — the digital financial services arm of Africa’s largest mobile network operator – that concluded this month.”
The cards will be offered to all of the 60 million active monthly MoMo wallets in the 13 countries where the mobile money service is available, namely South Africa, Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Republic of Guinea, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia.
The companies said the agreement would help connect millions of people and small businesses across Africa with digital tools to transact through secure mobile payments, expanding access to the benefits of the cashless digital economy.
“Africa is home to over 1.3 billion people, and only about 43% are banked, with over 90% of all payments and transactions made via cash,” the companies said.
“Of the total population, 45% have mobile money accounts.”
“The collaboration will help strengthen local infrastructure for digital payments, support potential expansion of transactions in the future and drive financial inclusion through access to assets,” they stated.
In addition to enabling MoMo users to transact at regular payment terminals, it will allow MoMo merchants to accept card payments.
Mastercard EMEA market development vice president Amnah Ajmal said the company was proud of the partnership enabling digital commerce for millions of people in Africa.
In addition, mobile money solutions can greatly benefit SMEs, enabling growth through seamless commercial operations, wider payment acceptance, access to affordable credit, and secure digital tools, Ajmal said.
The companies explained that SME owners will now be able to access solutions with the opportunity to set up an e-commerce shopfront, including QR enablement, Tap-on-Phone solutions and digital card acceptance.
“The agreement will enable SMEs with payments acceptance solutions such as Mastercard’s SME-in-a-Box, a low-cost payments solution that enables small business owners to move their businesses online and accept a range of digital payments from their customers,” they said.
MTN Group Fintech CEO Serigne Dioum said the collaboration would offer MoMo customers best-in-class apps, superior user experiences, safe transactions, secure remittances, new use cases, and expanded acceptance.
Mastercard will also be able to provide its cybersecurity solutions to MTN’s operations, helping to increase customer loyalty and trust.
In addition, the partnership will expand the reach of mobile money remittance services – both inward and cross-border remittances in Africa.
“The demand for international remittance services is growing with more than US$2 billion in daily processed transactions, equivalent to more than 40% of the GDP of Sub-Saharan Africa,” Mastercard and MTN said.
“International remittances via mobile money wallets grew by 65% year-over-year in 2020 to around US$1 billion, with no signs of slowing.”
MTN Nigeria Communications PLC has announced that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has approved the renewal of the spectrum lease agreement between MTN Nigeria and Natcom Development and Investment Limited (NTEL).
Uto Ukpanah, Company Secretary in a statement released recently said that the agreement covers the lease of NTEL’s 5MHz frequency division duplex (FDD) in the 900MHz spectrum band and 10MHz FDD in the 1800MHz spectrum band, which spans 19 states.
The renewal is for another two-year period, effective 1 May 2025. Additionally, the NCC has approved a one-year lease expansion of the spectrums, covering the remaining 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), effective 1 January 2025.
Commenting on the transactions, MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola said, “We are pleased with the renewal of the spectrum lease agreement with NTEL, which now includes coverage for all states, including the FCT.
“The lease enables us to enhance our 3G and 4G user experience as we improve coverage and capacity by utilising the spectrums.
“This positions us to capitalise on the growing demand for data and improve the delivery of services to our customers.”
Nigeria’s technology company, Globacom, has extended warm felicitations to Nigerians on the occasion of the 2024 Christmas celebrations.
In a goodwill message released in Lagos, Globacom urged Nigerians to embrace the spirit of love and kindness during the festive season, especially in the face of prevailing economic challenges.
The company emphasized the importance of practicing the teachings of Jesus Christ, particularly the virtues of obedience to God and loving one’s neighbor as well.
“Christ taught many virtues including obedience to God and loving one’s neighbour as oneself”, the company said, adding, “Now is the apt time to practise these teachings by sharing with the needy”.
Globacom also encouraged Nigerians to extend the conviviality of Christmas beyond the festive season by fostering love, peace, and harmony, as demonstrated by God through the birth of Jesus Christ.
Assuring its customers of uninterrupted services throughout the Yuletide period and beyond, Globacom urged them to take advantage of its innovative products and services to stay connected and share the memories of the season with loved ones.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have ordered Deposit Money Banks and Mobile Network Operators to settle the long-standing N250bn USSD debt dispute before January 2, 2025.
The CBN and NCC also directed banks to pay the pre-Application Programming Interfaces (API) debt before July 2, 2025.
They also ordered that post-API debts be settled before December 31, 2024.
The directive was issued in a joint cirular titled, “2nd Joint Circular of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission on the Resolution of the USSD Debt Issue Between Deposit Money Banks and Mobile Network Operators.”
The circular dated December 20, 2024, was signed by Oladimeji Taiwo, acting director of the Payments System Management Department, CBN, and Chizua Whyte, head of Legal and Regulatory Services, NCC.
The regulators said, “In view of the foregoing, the CBN and the NCC hereby direct DMBs and MNOs as follows: 1. That 60 per cent of all pre-API invoices must be paid as full and final settlement.
“Payment plans (lump sum or installments) must be agreed upon between a concerned DMB and MNO by January 2, 2025. Installments must be based on equal monthly payments, with full payment due by July 2, 2025.
“DMBs must pay 85 per cent of all outstanding invoices issued after the implementation of APIs (i.e., February 2022) by December 31, 2024.
“Similarly, 85 per cent of future invoices must be liquidated within one month of service.”
According to the regulators, the transition to end-user billing will be activated only for DMBs and MNOs that comply with the payment conditions cobtained in the circular.
CBN and the NCC said they would provide further guidance on public enlightenment initiatives related to the transition.
The regulators also directed MNOs to implement the “10-seconds rule” for USSD invoicing.
This implies that any session lasting less than ten seconds will not be billable.
The regulators added, “Failure to comply with the terms outlined in this directive will attract necessary sanctions, ensuring that both DMBs and MNOs uphold their obligations.”
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