PLDT’s digital unit Voyager Innovations has secured investment worth $167 million to help it expand into financial services via a new digital bank.
A new report on digital transformation in the Brazilian banking sector will no doubt make interesting reading for mobile operators as it shows what looks like an inexorable rise in consumer take-up of mobile banking.
The Angolan minister of economy and planning, Sérgio Santos, has apparently invited the Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom to invest in the country.
The restrictions on offering mobile money services that have been a condition of the recent licence applications in Ethiopia have occasioned a lot of comment. Now Kenya's president has got involved.
South Africa’s number three operator is claiming an African first. Telkom says it has launched Africa’s first virtual card for transacting on WhatsApp, enabling Telkom Pay customers to make e-commerce payments.
Connectivity, rather than established customer relationships, is the key to the future growth of financial services and inclusivity in emerging markets.
Ethio Telecom’s new mobile money service Telebirr apparently registered over one million users in the week after its launch. Now, according to some reports, registrations have passed the three million mark.
Mondia Pay, part of leading mobile commerce company Mondia, and mobile money service M-Pesa have partnered to allow Tanzanians to conveniently access Mondia’s suite of online content on the Vodacom Tanzania digital services network.
Underlining the growth of the mobile payment business across Africa, operator MTN has announced a $2 million partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to expand its mobile money business – called MoMo – in South Africa.
The leading Kenyan mobile operator – and mobile money pioneer – Safaricom has had a tough year during the pandemic, suffering its first profit decline in a decade. Could a deal with online retail giant Amazon provide a welcome revenue boost?
As expected, Ethiopia's state telecoms monopoly, Ethio Telecom, has launched a mobile money service with the aim of boosting growth by offering cashless transactions.
WhatsApp money transfer is back on track in Brazil. The Facebook-owned messaging service relaunched its person-to-person money transfer services in Brazil early this week.
Operator MTN Rwanda has received approval from the country's Central Bank to set up a fintech subsidiary, Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd.
The Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCOM) has gone live with Temenos’ next-generation core banking Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to offer a digital-first service in the Philippines.
Brazilian operator Telefônica Brasil, known as Vivo, has announced the launch of Vivo Pay, which is described as a fully digital account that allows for banking transactions directly through an application.
Ethio Telecom, the – for now – monopoly telecommunications provider in Ethiopia, has announced the roll-out of a mobile money service.
Somalia’s largest telecommunications provider, Hormuud Telecom, has announced the rollout of the country’s first indigenous mobile money application.
Brazilian operator Oi has announced the launch throughout Brazil of Oi Conta Zap, a digital bank account managed through the WhatsApp messaging application.
Yet another initiative to increase the reach of the cashless society has been announced – this time in Sri Lanka.
Cash is probably not going to disappear anytime soon in Africa, but a growing number of digital finance initiatives – including two recently announced in Kenya and Nigeria – may help to accelerate the process.
Global payments company Mastercard and Saudi fintech business Geidea have announced a strategic partnership agreement to accept Mastercard payments for Tap on Phone solutions in Saudi Arabia. This is claimed to be the first such agreement to be signed in the Middle East and North Africa.
Zimbabwean financial services provider First Capital Bank has announced the launch of Alisa, a WhatsApp banking chatbot, bringing together machine learning and cognitive computing technologies to provide customers and clients with various banking services.
The global drive to encourage digital payment continues – this time with an announcement from Sri Lankan operator SLT-Mobitel that its mobile money arm mCash has partnered with payments solution giant Visa.
Digital fintech enablement provider Ukheshe Technologies and Infobip, a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected customer experiences, say they have developed South Africa’s very first WhatsApp payment gateway. It is to be used by mobile operator Telkom.
Somalia’s Hormuud Telecom already offers mobile money services but, in an effort to formalise the country’s fast-growing digital payments infrastructure and integrate it with the global financial system, Somalia’s central bank has now awarded the country’s first mobile money licence to the operator.
Digital and mobile finance and payment services are continuing to make advances in developing regions – as recent announcements involving Latin America and the Middle East suggest.
Two admirable aims – financial inclusion and environmental responsibility – are at the heart of recent announcements from pan-African operator MTN.
Following hard on the heels of yesterday’s Bango and Tpay mobile money alliance comes another multi-regional digital finance deal. This time Wari and Lycaremit have announced a strategic partnership to facilitate cross-border remittance.
China’s central bank is seeking feedback on its antitrust proposals for stricter regulation of payment services provided by non-bank companies, such as Alibaba and Tencent.
Reports in the Kenyan press are making clear how much of a hit the country’s banks have taken from the recent surge in mobile money payments.
Nepal is set to receive a new player in its mobile financial space in the form of the Nepali Digital Payment Company.
Further proof of the vast strides being made by cashless payment on the African continent comes from Malawi where a new agreement aims to enhance the country’s e-commerce sector.
Philippines-based mobile wallet platform GCash gained an investment of over $175 million from private equity company Bow Wave Capital Management (Bow Wave) and shareholders, as part of the financial growth plans of Globe Telecom.
There’s been a boost for the relatively underpenetrated fintech services market in the Middle East with the award to operator Zain’s subsidiary Tamam of a Saudi microfinance licence.
Company registered in England, number 5724661
All content copyright © 2005-2026 Developing Telecoms Ltd. All rights reserved.