02 January 2020

Airtel Africa has partnered with Mastercard to give its more than 100 million mobile phone users across 14 African countries access to the financial services giant’s global network. 

The companies said in a statement that the Mastercard virtual (non-plastic) card allows Airtel Money customers (including those without a bank account) to make payments to local and global online merchants that accept Mastercard cards – “while ensuring that the customer’s financial data is always secure and private”. 

Airtel Money customers will also be able to make in-person payments at outlets via Quick Response (QR) codes (whereby payments are made from an Airtel mobile phone by scanning the QR code displayed at checkout or by entering a merchant identifier, at any location worldwide that Mastercard QR is accepted), according to the statement. 

Both companies said that there are over one million merchant locations across Africa that accept Mastercard QR payments.

The statement further added that Airtel Money customers would benefit from competitive pricing and preferential exchange rates for international payments, “and gain access to other domestically relevant use cases including bill payments, merchants payments and value-added services such as cash management solutions”. 

“Airtel and Mastercard have a shared passion for digital transformation and making mobile financial services accessible to everyone across the continent,” said Raghunath Mandava, chief executive officer of Airtel Africa. “Through our partnership we will enable over 100 million Airtel Africa customers make safe mobile money purchases online and in person. The partnership will also significantly bolster Airtel’s position as one of the largest offline-to-online digital payment network in Africa. We are really excited to embark on this partnership with a globally trusted brand like Mastercard.” 

The partners have indicated that mobile internet connections are expected to grow rapidly in Africa due to low cost smartphones and high-speed GSM networks being rolled out by MNOs. 

According to the GSM Association’s (GSMA) Mobile Economy, sub-Saharan Africa 2019 report, that section of the continent is one of the fastest-growing investment areas for tech firms, with a predicted total subscriber base of over 600 million by 2025.