MTN Mobile Money and Mastercard deepen strategic alliance in South Africa

Partnership integrates card-based wallet funding and tokenization security to expand digital financial access across underserved markets

MTN Mobile Money South Africa has strengthened its strategic partnership with Mastercard, the global payments network, to expand digital financial service accessibility and advance financial inclusion initiatives across the country.

The collaboration combines MTN MoMo's local market presence with Mastercard's payment technology infrastructure, creating pathways for more South Africans to participate in the digital economy. The expanded partnership introduces new functionality to the MoMo platform, including capability for users to fund their MoMo Wallets using debit and credit cards through Mastercard's Payment Gateway infrastructure.

"Our goal is to make digital financial services more accessible, secure and relevant to the everyday needs of South Africans," said Kagiso Mothibi, CEO of MTN Fintech SA.

The enhanced platform integrates Mastercard's fraud monitoring systems to strengthen security protections for users while building confidence in digital financial services. Security enhancements incorporate Mastercard's tokenization technology, which substitutes sensitive payment card information—including the 16-digit card number, expiration date, and security code—with a unique digital identifier token. This technology enables secure, one-click wallet top-ups, delivering faster and more convenient funding experiences with improved transaction success rates.

"Security is central to MTN's offering. By integrating Mastercard's advanced fraud monitoring tools, we are strengthening protection for users and building greater trust in digital financial services," explained Gabriël Swanepoel, country manager for Southern Africa at Mastercard. "These enhancements incorporate Mastercard's tokenisation security technology, which replaces sensitive payment card details such as the 16-digit card number, expiry date and CVC with a unique digital identifier called a token. This supports secure, one-click top-ups and offers users faster, more convenient MoMo Wallet funding with higher transaction success rates."

The partnership addresses a critical challenge facing many South Africans who possess limited or no credit history. According to Mothibi, using the MoMo Wallet enables these individuals to establish a financial profile and access services previously unavailable to them due to lack of traditional credit records.

Both organizations indicated the partnership will evolve based on customer requirements, with continued emphasis on secure, application-based features designed for South Africa's growing digital economy. The collaboration represents part of broader efforts to address financial exclusion in markets where substantial portions of the population remain unbanked or underbanked.

Mobile money platforms like MTN MoMo have emerged as critical infrastructure for financial inclusion in African markets, providing banking services to populations without access to traditional banking facilities. By integrating with established payment networks like Mastercard, these platforms create interoperability between mobile money ecosystems and conventional financial systems, expanding utility for users and merchants.

The integration of card-based funding options addresses a common friction point in mobile money adoption: the challenge of moving funds between traditional banking accounts and mobile wallets. Direct card-to-wallet transfers eliminate intermediate steps and transaction costs that previously discouraged usage, potentially accelerating adoption rates among consumers who maintain both bank accounts and mobile money wallets.