Mastercard, BancABC partner with Vodacom to introduce online card

Vodacom Tanzania PLC's acting managing director Hisham Hendi (Centre), Mastercard division president Sub Saharan Africa, Raghav Prasad (Left) and Bank ABC head of treasury and global market, Barton Mwasamengo (Right) marking their partnership in introducing online card in Dar es Salaam on Monday evening. PHOTO|CITIZEN CORRESPONDENT 

What you need to know:

  • The virtual card will allow M-Pesa mobile wallet holders to make payments on any local or international website or app so long as Mastercard is accepted for payment without the need for a bank account or credit card, according to a statement issued on Tuesday September 11, 2018.

Dar es Salaam. Mastercard has partnered with Vodacom and BancABC to introduce the first online card in Tanzania – the M-Pesa virtual card.

The virtual card will allow M-Pesa mobile wallet holders to make payments on any local or international website or app so long as Mastercard is accepted for payment without the need for a bank account or credit card, according to a statement issued on Tuesday September 11, 2018.

Customers can request the virtual card from the M-Pesa USSD menu or soon on the M-Pesa app and top the card up via the wallet. Once the card is topped up with funds, the virtual card is ready for use.  

“Vodacom’s M-Pesa is already an industry trailblaser with over 8.2 million subscribers and over 100,000 agents countrywide that enable citizens to transact safely and easily, but customers are limited when it comes to making online payments on international websites. The introduction of this functionality through the M-Pesa virtual card will revolutionise how people transact by removing the barrier of having bank accounts and risk of putting bank details online,” says Hisham Hendi, Vodacom Tanzania PLC’s acting managing director.

Africa's mobile internet connections are expected to grow rapidly due to affordable smartphones and high-speed networks being rolled out by Mobile Network Operators.  This surge in internet connections will create a demand for digital content, social media, m-commerce and even online education and a need to make payments easily and securely.

“The continued roll out of innovative technology solutions in the e-commerce space represents an opportunity for greater financial inclusion and means that more people will be able to make payments, without the inconvenience of cash. With 60 per cent of these transactions happening on mobile platforms, the future of financial inclusion undoubtedly lies in the mobile device that most of us carry around with us,” says Raghav Prasad, Mastercard division president for Sub Saharan Africa.

Tanzania has made great strides in financial inclusion with the growth of mobile money system.

It was estimated that 65.3 per cent of adults had access to financial services in 2017, driven largely by the introduction of easily accessible mobile wallet solutions.