Africa's largest payment gateway, MFS Africa
has partnered with Western Union to enable individuals and businesses across
the continent to receive money from over 200 countries and territories.
The
partnership will enable funds to be sent from countries around the world to
mobile wallets across Africa through the organization's licensed payment rails.
The service will first launch in Madagascar, and eventually in other countries
across the continent.
Kumar
Shourav, Managing Director, MTOs 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,"
Kumar said.
He added
that "Africa's fast-growing populations and markets present important
opportunities for businesses and individuals in an environment of slowing
global growth. MFS Africa has more than a decade's worth of experience in
navigating the challenging African payments landscape. Its direct relationship
with mobile wallet players, banks, cash pick-up networks, and regulators on the
continent is unmatched in the industry. Western Union is a global leader in
cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments."
Through this
partnership, both organisations will provide customers, businesses, and Global
Development Organisations across the world with access to convenient payout
options in Africa. This will foster better integration between Africa and the
rest of the world and will go a long way in supporting financial inclusion
across the continent.
Western
Union's ethos is based on empowering the aspiring populations of the world with
accessible financial tools to improve the lives of their loved ones and communities.
"Our
efforts to drive global financial inclusion mean delivering on customer needs
today and into the future. Through our partnership with MFS Africa, we are
excited to come together and deliver on our joint commitment to bring
innovative solutions for customers as they support their families and
accelerate their momentum up the economic ladder," Hassan Chatila, Global
Head of Account Payout Network, Western Union, said.
This
collaboration to provide access to transacting across borders will further
cement MFS Africa as a preferred, better, and one-stop solution for payments
into and within Africa. Whether you’re a young entrepreneur in the merchant
marketplace, require access to collect loan repayments from customers or need
to send bulk payments, MFS Africa strives to continuously connect senders,
recipients, and service providers across the continent.
"Innovation,
commitment to customer focus, and financial inclusion are at the heart of
everything we do at Western Union. We are deeply committed to the region and
remain focused on advancing cross-border money movement solutions for the
people in this region, their communities as well as the broader economy.
Through our collaboration with MFS Africa, we look forward to achieving our
common critical role in getting money to the places where and when it is most
needed," Mohamed Touhami El Ouazzani, Regional Vice President of Africa,
Western Union, added.
According to
a statement shared with Benjamindada.com, MFS Africa's full-service digital
payments network connects over 400 million mobile money wallets, over 200
million bank accounts across Africa, and over 200,000 agents in Nigeria, to
enable cross-platform and cross-border payments for remittance companies,
mobile network operators, banks, non-bank financial institutions and global
merchants.