Visa and Safaricom Partner to Connect M-Pesa to Global Card Network
Visa and Safaricom forge a new partnership to link Africa's leading mobile money platform, M-Pesa, with Visa's worldwide merchant network. The collaboration aims to boost digital payments and e-commerce capabilities for millions of unbanked and underbanked users across East Africa.
Visa connects to Africa’s dominant mobile payments network through a new partnership with Kenyan telecom Safaricom. This arrangement links M-Pesa’s extensive financial services network in East Africa directly to Visa’s global merchant and card network across 200 countries. The two companies also plan to collaborate on developing new products that support digital payments for M-Pesa customers, though the deal remains subject to regulatory approval.
M-Pesa stands as the most recognized fintech product in Africa and serves as a global case study for increasing financial inclusion. In Kenya, a country with a population of 53 million, the platform boasts 24.5 million customers and a network of 176,000 agents while maintaining a mobile money market share above 75%. The service works on any basic mobile phone via SMS, making it as ubiquitous to Kenyan culture as Coca-Cola is in the United States.
This partnership aligns with Visa’s broader strategy to expand across the African continent through collaborations with local payment providers. Over the past year, Visa partners with startups like Paga and Flutterwave and invests $200 million in Nigerian financial services provider Interswitch. By joining forces with Safaricom, Visa aims to offer expanded mobile e-commerce capabilities and secure cashless payment solutions to merchants and consumers.