Mastercard teams up with Enza to stimulate financial technology growth throughout Africa
In a groundbreaking development, Mastercard and Enza, a payment solutions company based in Abu Dhabi, have joined forces to revolutionise the African fintech industry. This collaboration aims to accelerate the region's digital transformation and empower fintech companies with seamless and secure access to Mastercard's global payment network through Enza's platform.
Founded in 2023, Enza has regional offices in Egypt, South Africa, and Nigeria, and its mission is to build a more financially inclusive continent that is ready and able to compete globally. The collaboration between Mastercard and Enza seeks to reduce complexity and speed up time to market for emerging fintech players in Africa.
By partnering with Mastercard, fintech startups can quickly integrate payment solutions into their platforms, accelerating product launches and innovation while lowering development overhead. This partnership enables fintechs to embed a full suite of Mastercard payment capabilities, such as issuing physical or virtual prepaid and postpaid cards, managing consumer and merchant accounts, and enabling acceptance of Mastercard payments across in-store, online, and in-app channels, without having to build complex payment infrastructure from scratch.
One of the key benefits of this partnership is the facilitation of embedded payment solutions. Rather than treating payments as a bottleneck, fintechs can treat payments as a building block of broader digital financial services, such as lending and financial access tools embedded within consumer applications. This integration not only enhances the user experience but also promotes financial inclusion by making digital payments more accessible and affordable.
Enhancing security and system availability is another critical aspect of this partnership. Enza handles integration directly with Mastercard’s network, ensuring high security standards and reliable service, which is critical for gaining consumer trust and scaling fintech solutions. The partnership also supports financial inclusion by empowering fintechs with easy access to modern payment infrastructure, especially in underserved and underbanked regions, thereby helping to bridge gaps in financial access and affordability.
Mete Guney, Executive Vice President of Market Development at Mastercard, stated that the collaboration is focused on powering the fintech ecosystem and enabling financial inclusion in Africa. Andrew Key, Executive Director of Enza, echoed this sentiment, expressing that the collaboration aims to make digital payments more accessible and affordable across Africa.
The partnership between Mastercard and Enza provides a robust, ready-made payments infrastructure platform that enables African fintech companies to innovate faster, serve more customers, and contribute to a more financially inclusive continent. This collaboration is expected to create new opportunities for fintech companies, enabling them to capitalise on new markets and develop new revenue streams. Together, Mastercard and Enza will provide fintech innovators with a platform capability that allows them to get to market with greater speed and security.
- The collaboration between Mastercard and Enza intends to revolutionize the African fintech market by accelerating the region's digital transformation.
- Enza, with its offices in Egypt, South Africa, and Nigeria, aims to build a continent ready for global competition, and this partnership is a significant step towards that goal.
- By partnering with Mastercard, fintech startups can leverage Mastercard's global payment network, enabling rapid product launches and innovation.
- This partnership empowers fintechs to embed a variety of Mastercard payment capabilities, enhancing the user experience and promoting financial inclusion.
- Security and system availability are critical concerns addressed by this partnership, with Enza ensuring high security standards and reliable service for fintech solutions.
- The partnership between Mastercard and Enza is focused on powering the African fintech ecosystem, enabling financial inclusion, and providing a platform for faster innovation, new market opportunities, and increased financial accessibility.
