Mastercard will invest $100-million in Airtel Africa’s mobile money operations. This will signify that the telco is now valued at $2.65-billion. The deal will offer Mastercard a minority stake in the Airtel Mobile Commerce, as per Airtel Africa’s plan to monetize the mobile money business.
The telecom company wants to sell off a 25% stake in the Airtel Money business. Eventually, over 100 million Airtel Africa mobile phone users across 14 African countries will have access to Mastercard’s global network. They will also be able to make in-person payments at outlets via QR codes.
On its part, Mastercard promises to avail “competitive pricing and preferential exchange rates for international payments”.
Recently, the two companies launched the ‘Airtel Money Mastercard’, a card designed to offer Airtel Money customers a safe, convenient and secure platform to transact online globally.
The product is a virtual card that allows Airtel Money customers, including those without a bank account, to make payments to local and global online merchants that accept Mastercard. These include platforms like Netflix, Uber, Amazon, Google Play, AliExpress, Alibaba, while ensuring that the customer’s financial data is always secure and private. All transactions have a maximum charge of UGX 1,000.
The card is attached to the Airtel Money subscriber’s wallet which means that the balance of your Airtel Money account is the balance of your Airtel Money Mastercard. A customer can also delete the card at any time for security reasons and create a new card at any time at convenience or when required to make purchases online.
