Mvisa: Ecobank, Visa boost mobile payments across Africa

 



Visa, has entered into partnership with Ecobank, to roll out “mVisa,” an innovative mobile payment service in 33 African markets by year-end. Mvisa enables consumers to pay for goods and services for their everyday expenses from groceries to taxi services by simply scanning a QR code on a smart phone or entering a merchant identification number into their feature phones, just as it addresses the need for a convenient, low cost acceptance payments service throughout the continent. To successfully enable mVisa across Sub-Saharan Africa, the service would be launched in key markets such as Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. In a statement, Group country manager, Visa in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr. Andrew Torre, said that the partnership would enable Ecobank offer an interoperable mobile payment service with real benefits to drive digital transformation across the continent. Torre said that the mVisa allows any consumer with any mobile device to make payments both domestically and internationally, hinting that Ecobank is one of the banks in Nigeria to partner with Visa to provide the mVisa service to Nigerian consumers and merchants. “We are excited to partner with Ecobank to bring mVisa to the 33 African markets in which they operate.” Also, Group CEO, Ecobank, Mr. Ade Ayeyemi, said that consumers can also make payments to other individuals (person-to-person or P2P) and Ecobank’s branchless banking agents will be able to do cash-in-cash-out transactions across the region. Ayeyemi said, “Visa is a globally recognized brand. We are therefore excited to accelerate the growth of digital payments in partnership with them. Our joint objective is to leverage mVisa to underpin a robust mobile payments ecosystem that will make financial inclusion, at an affordable and sustainable price point, a reality across our markets.”