MFS Africa, which provides payment gateway services, has revealed a collaboration with Western Union to enable people and businesses across Africa to receive money from over 200 countries and territories.
Through its authorized payment networks, the collaboration will allow for money transfers to be made from various nations to mobile wallets throughout Africa.
At first, the service will be introduced in Madagascar, followed by other nations in the region.
Hassan Chatila, Global Head of Account Payout Network, Western Union, says, “At Western Union, we aim to be the global leader in providing accessible financial services to the world’s populations and, in turn, increase global financial inclusion. Our efforts to drive global financial inclusion means delivering on customer needs today and into the future.”
MFS Africa aims to strengthen its position as a leading payment solution for transactions within and into Africa by collaborating to expand cross-border transaction access.
This will reportedly benefit young entrepreneurs in the merchant marketplace, those needing to collect loan repayments, and those requiring bulk payment services.
By continuously connecting senders, recipients, and service providers across the continent, MFS Africa’s comprehensive digital payment network links over 400 million mobile money wallets, 200 million bank accounts, and 200,000 agents in Nigeria.
This enables remittance companies, mobile network operators, banks, non-bank financial institutions, and global merchants to make cross-platform and cross-border payments.
Kumar Shourav, Managing Director, MTO’s at MFS Africa noted that a partnership like this is unprecedented in the industry, with huge potential benefits, value, and impact implications in the long run. “At MFS Africa, we have always believed in making payments as simple as possible. Payment infrastructures globally have traditionally remained fragmented and local in nature. Africa’s 54 countries are diverse not just in terms of population, development levels, growth rates, and stability but with payment infrastructure and regulations as well.”
