- MTN South Africa has partnered with Investec and Electrum to introduce PayShap, an instant payment platform, on its MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) platform to close the financial inclusion gap for the underbanked population.
- This comes as over 19 million South Africans do not have access to formal banking services, and over one million micro, small, and medium-sized businesses continue to operate solely on cash, indicating a critical need for financial inclusion.
- With this development, MTN SA MoMo, which has over eight million subscribers, became the first non-banking player to offer PayShap, with Investec acting as the banking partner and Electrum as the technical partner overseeing PayShap”s implementation on the MoMo platform.
Per Bradwin Roper, MTN South Africa’s Fintech CEO, “This strategic collaboration will empower our users, particularly the unbanked community, with accessibility and convenience.”
He also stated that the move will promote financial inclusion by connecting more people to the secure and efficient world of mobile payments.
PayShap, a real-time interbank payment service, was launched in March 2023 as part of the Rapid Payments Programme, an industry-led initiative to develop a cashless payment option. It has the support of four banks: Nedbank, Absa, Standard Bank, FNB, and Discovery Bank, and approval from the South African Reserve Bank.
South Africans can use the platform to send and receive money instantly by providing only their cell phone numbers.
According to MTN, integrating the PayShap solution on the MoMo platform is still pending approval. Meanwhile, it has not revealed what fees will apply to PayShap payments made through MoMo, as many South African banks charge transaction fees on PayShap transactions.
Cumesh Moodliar, CEO of Investec Bank, stated, “by bridging the gap between traditional banking and mobile solutions, we aim to foster a financial ecosystem that serves all segments of society.”
In February 2024, MTN partnered with MasterCard to launch the MoMo virtual card for Africa. The virtual cards will equip merchants using the MoMo platform to accept card payments seamlessly.