Mastercard has announced a partnership with payments firm enza to connect fintech companies across Africa to the Mastercard network.
This collaboration will enable fintech players embedded Mastercard payment solutions capabilities to serve both consumers and businesses.
“At Mastercard, we are focused on powering the fintech ecosystem by enabling access to our trusted global network. Through our work with enza, fintech innovators in Africa will be able to deploy embedded payment capabilities more efficiently – helping accelerate financial inclusion and the region’s digital transformation,” said Mete Guney, executive vice president, Market Development, EEMEA, Mastercard.
According to a report by the European Investment Bank, the number of fintech companies in Africa has nearly tripled since 2020. Many of these innovators focus on embedding payment services into broader solutions that tackle financial access, offering alternatives to legacy systems that often have a high cost to serve.
The deal will help fintechs access the full suite of Mastercard services to reduce complexity and speed up time to market for emerging players building digital financial solutions across the continent.
enza will host consumer and merchant accounts, manage integration with Mastercard’s network, and ensure high levels of security and system availability. Fintech companies can configure pre-paid or post-paid accounts, and issue physical or virtual Mastercard cards. For businesses, enza will enable acceptance of Mastercard payments across in-store, online and in-app channels.
“Together, we will provide innovators with a platform capability that means they do not need to build this aspect of their proposition and can get to market with greater speed and security,” said Andrew Key, Executive Director, enza.
Founded in 2023, enza is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, with regional offices in Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria. The company’s innovative payment infrastructure delivers the flexibility and agility needed to increase competitiveness, capitalize on new markets and develop new revenue streams through better serving consumer and business customers across Africa.
