Mastercard, OPay partnership to boost cashless ecosystem

Mastercard and fintech giant OPay announced a strategic partnership, which marks a significant boost for wider financial inclusion and economic prosperity by opening up digital commerce to millions of people across Middle East and Africa.

The collaboration enables OPay consumers and merchants in the region – including Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa and the UAE – to engage with brands and businesses anywhere across the globe, thanks to a Mastercard virtual payment solution linked to the OPay eWallet.

This collaboration is the latest step in Mastercard’s emerging market strategy, in which the technology company collaborates with growing Fintechs like OPay to expand access to digital payments, enable multiple lifestyle services, create new pathways to financial inclusion, and support the next generation of super-apps. Consumers are increasingly seeking seamless user experiences on a single platform that allows them to complete various day-to-day needs such as sending and receiving money, ordering food and groceries, organizing transportation, lending, investing, and listing items for sale.

OPay customers will benefit from the Mastercard virtual payment solution linked to their OPay wallets in the first phase of this partnership, allowing them to shop at well-known global brands for leisure, travel, accommodation, entertainment, streaming services, and more. Whether or not the customer has a bank account, the service is available. It also enables small business owners to buy from suppliers in other countries and pay with the secure virtual payment solution.

Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President for Market Development, 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.” 

Yahui Zhou, CEO of OPay,said: “As the leading fintech in the Middle East and Africa, we are delighted to be partnering with Mastercard as we continue on our journey to promote financial inclusion, helping to open up the global economy to more consumers and businesses across Middle East and Africa.”

Since its inception in 2018, OPay’s active users have risen to 15 million across the dozens of markets in which it operates. On average, the company processes millions of transactions per day. Users in Nigeria, where OPay has a significant market share, have saved billions of dollars in the last four years through credit-linked savings accounts from their mobile wallets and small loans from lenders who use its platform.

Plans are in place to launch OPay services in other markets over the next three to five years, significantly accelerating the growth of digital inclusion and digital commerce while also broadening OPay customer inclusion in the global economy.

Mastercard has made a global commitment to financial inclusion, pledging to bring 1 billion people and 50 million micro and small businesses into the digital economy by 2025, with a focus on 25 million female entrepreneurs.