This archive report was first published on 9 October 2019.
On October 9, 2019, Airtel Africa announced a groundbreaking partnership with Mastercard, expanding its mobile financial services to over 100 million customers across 14 African countries.
The Mastercard virtual card allows Airtel Money customers to make payments to local and global online merchants, ensuring their financial data remains secure and private.
With this partnership, Airtel Money customers can also make in-person payments at over one million merchant locations across Africa that accept Mastercard QR payments.
Airtel Money customers will benefit from competitive pricing and preferential exchange rates for international payments, as well as access to other domestically relevant use cases, including bill payments and value-added services.
According to Raghunath Mandava, CEO of Airtel Africa, the partnership will enable over 100 million Airtel Africa customers to make safe mobile money purchases online and in person.
The partnership will also bolster Airtel's position as one of the largest offline-to-online digital payment networks in Africa.
As Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President for Market Development at Mastercard Middle East and Africa, noted, the partnership is part of Mastercard's strategy to enable digital transformation for its partners, providing seamless access to payments and a superior experience for consumers.
