Mastercard and a payment solutions company, enza, have collaborated to connect fintech companies across Africa to the Mastercard network to serve both consumers and businesses.

This was indicated in a statement made available to The PUNCH on Saturday.

A European Investment Bank report has indicated that 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.

With this collaboration, Mastercard said that fintech companies will now be able to easily access the full suite of Mastercard services. The collaboration aims to reduce complexity and speed up time to market for emerging players building digital financial solutions across the continent.

“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 executive vice president, Market Development, EEMEA, Mastercard, Mete Guney.

As part of the agreement, 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 prepaid or postpaid 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.

Executive Director of Enza, Andrew Key explained, “Enza is on a mission to make digital payments more accessible and affordable across Africa, helping to build a more financially inclusive continent that is ready and able to compete globally.

“Our collaboration with Mastercard leverages our existing relationship to more effectively serve the fintech community. 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.”

Founded in 2023, Enza is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, with regional offices in Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria.