Mobile Money news and trends

Safaricom Launches M-Pesa Mobile Money Service in Ethiopia
Mobile Wallets // August 27, 2023

Kenyan telecom Safaricom has brought its mobile money service M-Pesa to Ethiopia. As the Financial Times (FT) reported Saturday (Aug. 26), the service went live in Africa’s second-most populous country this month, and will be promoted nationwide in September. “By the end of September we will fully launch M-Pesa here....

Nigeria Greenlights Open Banking to Deepen Financial Inclusion, Boost Innovation
Bank Regulation // March 09, 2023

Open banking is now live in Nigeria, the first country to adopt open banking regulations in the Africa region. The operational guidelines to kickstart the scheme were released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this week, outlining the rules governing how traditional banks and...

Ooredoo and Huawei Partner on Mobile Money in MENA Region
Financial Inclusion // March 06, 2023

Ooredoo and Huawei have partnered on mobile money in the Middle East and North Africa. This collaboration will provide Huawei’s FinTech and mobile money platform to Ooredoo’s operating companies in the information and communications technology (ICT) space in the region, the companies said in a...

Ethiopia Considering Opening Mobile Money Market to Foreign Operators
Payment Methods // February 20, 2023

A consultative meeting focused on the future of Ethiopia’s mobile money market is to be held Tuesday (Feb. 21). The meeting concerns a draft directive that would replace a 2020 directive that opened the sector to non-financial players and would open the market to foreign...

Interviews & Exclusives
Smart Automation and the Cybersecurity Network Effect

December 08, 2022
Corporate fraud may be on the rise, but so is highly aggressive corporate fraud-fighting. As Nithai Barzam, chief operating officer at cybersecurity FinTech nsKnox, told PYMNTS for the “Executive Insights Series — Top of Mind,” he’s focused on the hurdles his clients must clear every second of every day because, like those tasked with defending […]

Africa’s Mobile Money Ecosystem Embraces Blockchain to Drive X-Border Real-Time Payments

November 27, 2022
In 2020, scientists at the University of Zambia (UNZA) proposed a clearing and settlement architecture that would allow interoperability between mobile money payment networks based on a distributed ledger system....

Mobile Loans Keep Africa’s Semiformal Economies in Business

November 23, 2022
Solopreneurs and micro-businesses are the lifeblood of Africa’s informal and semiformal economies, but when it comes to accessing working capital loans, they are typically underserved by most financial institutions. Related:...

Why Africa Is eCommerce’s Next Great Frontier

January 14, 2019
Africa is home to 54 countries and hundreds of millions of smartphone users — young, tech-savvy and ready to embrace digital payments and banking. Emergent’s Saqib Nazir talks about the opportunities...

Quick Reads
Western Union Lets Mexican Consumers Receive Funds Via Chatbot

September 12, 2023
Western Union and Elektra say users in Mexico can now receive money via chatbot.  The offering, the latest in a series of efforts by Western Union to expand its business in Mexico, lets users with an active account at Banco Azteca collect the money sent to them from the U.S., the companies said in a news release Tuesday (Sept. 12). […]

Safaricom Launches M-Pesa Mobile Money Service in Ethiopia

August 27, 2023
Kenyan telecom Safaricom has brought its mobile money service M-Pesa to Ethiopia. As the Financial Times (FT) reported Saturday (Aug. 26), the service went live in Africa’s second-most populous country this month, and will be...

Ooredoo and Huawei Partner on Mobile Money in MENA Region

March 06, 2023
Ooredoo and Huawei have partnered on mobile money in the Middle East and North Africa. This collaboration will provide Huawei’s FinTech and mobile money platform to Ooredoo’s operating companies in...

Ethiopia Considering Opening Mobile Money Market to Foreign Operators

February 20, 2023
A consultative meeting focused on the future of Ethiopia’s mobile money market is to be held Tuesday (Feb. 21). The meeting concerns a draft directive that would replace a 2020...