Global Technology Partners (GTP) and MFS Africa have entered into an agreement to deepen financial penetration across the African continent.
MFS Africa will leverage on GTP’s prepaid platform and Pan African network of BIN sponsors to launch virtual and physical prepaid / companion cards to over 100-million mobile wallet owners.
This relationship will also facilitate the funding of prepaid cards across the continent using mobile wallets and bank accounts. The cards will run on Visa and Mastercard networks.
Fifty-seven percent of Africans don’t have access to basic banking and that statistic also hides a gender gap – in sub-Saharan Africa only 37% of women and 48% of men have a bank account. Historically, Africa has a low density per capita of bank branches and this is even more pronounced in rural areas.
Africans’ rapid take up of mobile phones coupled with digital banking/fintech is a game changer in tackling this.
“We see this relationship as another indication of the strategic alliances required to fulfil the promise of bringing financial inclusion to every eligible African,” says Rich Bialek, CEO of GTP.
“One of the key strategies we have had from the onset is to connect Africans with financial services that speak to their everyday lives. This relationship is adding another layer to this as it affords wallet holders the ability to purchase domestically and internationally from millions of merchants,” says Dare Okoudjou, founder and CEO of MFS.