MasterCard & Network International launch platform to increase digital payment adoption in Africa

MasterCard along with its strategic partner Network International have announced that they will be launching a new digital platform that will increase the adoption of digital payments across the Middle East and Africa.

“Accelerated adoption of digital payments means more consumers and businesses are enabled to benefit from a growing digital economy and a world beyond cash. Mastercard’s trusted, secure technology will be available to more people through this digital platform and we are very proud to activate this important initiative with Network International as our long-term strategic partner,”

Gaurang Shah, Senior Vice President, Product Management, Digital Payments & Labs, Middle East and Africa, Mastercard.

Network International Holdings provides technology-enabled payments to its merchants and financial institutions across the Middle East. In July last year, the company acquired African payments service DPO, and this allowed the Network International to extend its reach on to the African continent.

Working with MasterCard, Network International will aid its clients to enable mobile-based payments for their consumers and merchants across a number of channels . The merchants will have a single interface where they can accept USSD, Quick Response (QR), and standard POS as well as ecommerce with mobile money and Tap on Phone technology which will be rolled out later this year.

Banks and payment issuers will be able to offer their customers easy to use payments solutions including Digital Wallets, P2P payments and Virtual Cards.

“Our partnership with Mastercard is focused on rapidly growing electronic payment usage across our region and this initiative is a major foundational step in meeting that goal”

“We believe the launch of this platform is the first in a series of steps towards delivering simplified, collaborative payment solutions across the payments value chain in the Middle East and Africa. We have plans to grow the platforms’ capabilities so that we can help our joint customers, large and small, accelerate the move from cash to digital solutions.”

Paul Clarke, Group Head of Product & Innovation, Network International.

This solution will initially be rolled out in 40 African countries which include Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. A further roll-out will be extended to the rest of Africa and across the Middle East.