Ecobank, MasterCard sign deal to roll out mobile payments in 33 African countries

According to the companies this is the largest Masterpass deal of its kind for MasterCard globally. Ecobank customers will be able to pay for online and in-store purchases by scanning a QR code displayed at checkout with smartphones, or by entering a merchant identifier into their device.

The Ecobank Masterpass QR service was launched in Nigeria last month as an enhancement to the Masterpass digital payment platform. It aims to enable millions of micro, small and medium enterprises across Africa to accept fast and secure digital payments.

More than that, customers in another 32 countries will be able to access the service “by the end of 2016”, MasterCard says.

The Ecobank Masterpass QR service will be rolled out to: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Democratic Republic), Co^te d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The companies say the service addresses the challenges of expensive infrastructure issues across the continent, associated with traditional point-of-sale devices, and eliminates the need for cash.