Fintech giant OPay and Mastercard recently announced a strategic partnership, which marks a significant boost towards broader financial inclusion (FIs) and economic prosperity by opening up digital commerce to millions of people across the Middle East and Africa (MEA).
This partnership will empower OPay consumers and merchants in the region – including Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa, and the UAE – to engage with brands and businesses anywhere across the globe, all credit to a Mastercard virtual payment solution linked to the OPay eWallet.
Mastercard added that this partnership will prove as the latest milestone in Mastercard’s emerging market strategy wherein the technology firm is collaborating with growing Fintech like the OPay to expand access to digital payments, empowering multiple lifestyle services, and offering new pathways to financial inclusion and support the next generation of super-apps.
Consumers are surging looking for seamless user experiences on a single platform offering flexible interactions to accomplishing numerous day-to-day needs, comprising of sending and receiving money, ordering food and groceries, organizing transport, lending, investing, and listing items they wish to sell.
Industry sources specified that in the initial phase of this partnership, OPay clients will benefit from the Mastercard virtual payment solution linked to their OPay wallets, to shop at well-known global brands for leisure, travel, accommodation, entertainment, and streaming services, and more.
The service is available regardless of whether or not the customer has a bank account. It also allows small business owners to purchase from suppliers abroad and pay with the secure virtual payment solution.
Regarding the partnership with OPay, Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President for Market Development, Mastercard EEMEA, commented: “At Mastercard, our innovation strategy is rooted in partnerships to support inclusion at scale. Our partnership with OPay demonstrates our commitment to supporting payments providers across the world to create an interconnected global payments ecosystem that benefits an array of consumers with unique needs.”
Regarding the association with Mastercard, Yahui Zhou, CEO of OPay, stated: “As the leading fintech in the Middle East and Africa, we are delighted to be partnering with Mastercard as we continue on our journey to promote financial inclusion, helping to open up the global economy to more consumers and businesses across the Middle East and Africa.”
OPay also gave an insight on its numerous initiatives that are in place to unveil OPay services in other markets in the next three to five years, significantly driving the growth of digital inclusion and digital commerce, while at the same time widening OPay customer inclusion into the global economy.
