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Safaricom and Mastercard have forged a strategic partnership aimed at expanding digital payment acceptance and cross-border remittance services across Kenya.

This collaboration will integrate Safaricom’s mobile money platform, M-PESA, with Mastercard’s global payment infrastructure to enhance financial inclusion and provide scalable, secure payment solutions for merchants.

This partnership arrives at a time when M-PESA mobile wallet payments are seeing a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7% between 2020 and 2024.

By leveraging Safaricom’s extensive merchant network, comprising roughly 636,000 businesses, and Mastercard’s global reach, the initiative aims to empower Kenyan merchants to serve both local and international customers with greater efficiency.

Amnah Ajmal, Mastercard’s Executive Vice President for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, emphasized the collaboration’s goal of building an inclusive digital economy in Kenya. “We are proud to partner with Safaricom to build an inclusive digital economy that works for everyone, everywhere. We will enable the merchants to grow and contribute to the Kenyan economy,” he said.

The integration of Mastercard’s omnichannel payment solutions with M-PESA is expected to streamline cross-border remittances, making international money transfers faster and more reliable for Kenyan individuals and businesses.

Esther Waititu, Safaricom’s Chief Financial Services Officer, highlighted how the partnership opens up new opportunities for M-PESA merchants.

“By combining our expertise with Mastercard’s global acceptance network, we are enabling businesses to provide more efficient and frictionless payment solutions to their customers, both in Kenya and beyond,” she said.

The collaboration not only  aims to improve merchant payments and remittance services but also supports Kenya’s broader economic growth, particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that rely heavily on digital platforms like M-PESA.