Airtel Africa has announced a partnership with Mastercard which will the telco’s 100 million customers across 14 African countries access to the payment platform’s global network via the Mastercard virtual card.
The Mastercard virtual card will allow Airtel Money customers, even 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. In addition, Airtel Money customers will also be able to make in-person payments at outlets via Quick Response (QR) codes. To date, there are over 1 million merchant locations across Africa that accept Mastercard QR payments.
Airtel Money customers will also 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.
Raghunath Mandava, the CEO of Airtel Africa had this to say, “Airtel and Mastercard have a shared passion for digital transformation and making mobile financial services accessible to everyone across the continent. 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. This partnership is truly revolutionary in our market, giving millions of people better access to the digital and online world.”