Marking a significant boost for wider financial inclusion and economic prosperity, Mastercard has formed a partnership with the fintech OPay to open up digital commerce to millions of people across the Middle East and Africa.
The partnership will allow OPay customers to pay on online platforms via Mastercard’s virtual payment solution, which is to be linked to the OPay e-wallet.
The collaboration enables OPay consumers and merchants in Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa and the UAE to engage with brands and businesses anywhere across the globe.
Since its operations started in 2018, OPay’s active users have grown to 15 million in dozens of markets in which it operates.
In Nigeria for example, where OPay has a major foothold, users have increasingly leveraged credit-linked savings accounts from their mobile wallets and small loans from lenders that use its platform.
With its Mastercard partnership now brought to fruition, OPay’s consumers are to be granted a better digital experience for multiple lifestyle services with numerous digital commerce opportunities, regardless of whether they have a bank account or not. It also allows small business owners to purchase from suppliers abroad and pay with the secure virtual payment solution.
In addition to digital commerce enablement, the two parties will jointly develop solutions to position OPay at the leading edge of financial services within the markets it operates.
Amnah Ajmal, executive VP for market development at Mastercard EEMEA, said: “At Mastercard, our innovation strategy is rooted in partnerships to support inclusion at scale.
“Our partnership with OPay demonstrates our commitment to supporting payments providers across the world to create an interconnected global payments ecosystem that benefits an array of consumers with unique needs.”
Reports indicate that there are currently plans in place to launch OPay services in other markets within the next five years, significantly driving the growth of digital inclusion and digital commerce, while at the same time widening OPay customer inclusion into the global economy.
