Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and Johannesburg, South Africa-based mobile network operator MTN Group (JSE: MTN), have extended their long-term partnership to enhance mobile financial services and financially empower millions of citizens across Africa. The partnership will broaden the scope of financial inclusion from first-time users to high-end business applications, utilizing MTN’s Mobile Money (MoMo) service on the Ericsson Wallet Platform, according to the companies.
Powered by the Ericsson Wallet Platform, MTN MoMo enables individuals and businesses to conduct secure and convenient banking and payment transactions directly from their mobile devices. The comprehensive suite of services will provide MTN’s customers across Africa with access to a mobile connectivity-based financial ecosystem. In addition to bolstering MTN’s goal of advancing financial inclusion for the unbanked, the MNO will offer advanced financial services to address the rapidly evolving digital financial needs of individuals and enterprises.
MTN MoMo customers can securely manage funds, pay merchants and utility providers, and access loans and insurance services. The platform places a strong emphasis on financial technology, or fintech, with focus areas including the growth of merchant and e-commerce payments, facilitating national and international money transfers (remittance services), advancing banking solutions and offering insurance services.
MTN indicates that more than 63 million active subscribers already use its MoMo platform in some form across 16 African countries. MTN says the MoMo annual transaction value has almost tripled since 2018 from $76 billion to $204 billion in 2022. Transaction volumes increased by almost 300 percent during the same period, from 3.5 billion transactions in 2018 to 12.7 billion in 2022.
Ericsson Wallet Platform supports more than 400 million registered mobile wallets and processes more than 2.8 billion transactions, worth more than $40 billion, every month through communication service providers and financial institutions globally, according to the company.
Serigne Dioum, Chief Fintech Officer, MTN Group, says: “With 63.5 million active users, … MTN Mobile Money’s financial services, encompassing money transfers, payments, savings, and loans for every consumer, actively driving financial inclusion, and advancing economic empowerment across the continent. Our collaboration with Ericsson is a significant milestone in the execution of our Ambition 2025 – building the largest and most valuable platform business and [creating] shared value for our customers in Africa.”
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
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