| Africa | Cellulant partners with Mastercard to launch a virtual card solution. Cellulant, a leading payments provider in multiple African countries, has partnered with Mastercard to issue virtual cards to their customers. The virtual cards will be available to Cellulant’s Tingg Wallet customers and can be used for e-commerce and general spending. PYMNTS |
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| Africa | Instant Payment Systems in Africa. In this report, AfricaNenda takes a look at the state of instant payment systems in Africa. AfricaNenda |
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| Nigeria | MTN’s MoMo PSB slow start. Ifunanya Chiegboka outlines key reasons for the muted growth of MoMo PSB and suggests recommendations to ramp up adoption. KoreFusion |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | The Decode Fintech team wrote an exhaustive piece on the potential for MoMo PSB to change the financial landscape in Nigeria. Check it out for more context on Ifunanya Chiegboka’s piece. |
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| Africa | Funding African futures. Mastercard published a new report on the state of funding in Africa, and the emergent solutions that could propel future growth. Mastercard |
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| Nigeria | Yellow Card obtains Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license in Botswana. Yellow Card, an African cryptocurrency exchange platform, has obtained regulatory approval to operate as a VASP in Botswana. As a VASP, Yellow Card can facilitate the trading of virtual assets including cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. Coin Telegraph |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | As we’ve written previously, the approach to regulating cryptocurrency activities will vary across different African countries. An excerpt from the issue: “One way to manage the perceived risk associated with a financial product is to totally prevent customers and financial institutions from interacting with the product. Another way to manage that risk is to allow the financial product to interact carefully with existing risk frameworks and iterate those frameworks to minimise the risk over time.”
In countries like South Africa and Botswana, regulators have chosen the second approach by carefully matching crypto activity with the regulatory guidance, rather than banning it. One way to look at these crypto-friendly countries is that they’re regulatory sandboxes on a continental level. With time, the rest of the continent will get a better sense of the benefits (and challenges) of cryptocurrency usage in these countries. |
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| Nigeria | The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issues guidelines for contactless payments. Nigeria’s apex financial regulator has issued draft guidelines to regulate the use of contactless payments in Nigeria. The guidelines identify the relevant stakeholders and outline permissible activities required to provide contactless payments to end customers. Benjamin Dada |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | Here’s a link to the full draft of the guidelines. Stakeholders can send feedback to the CBN before November 5, 2022.
We’ve extensively covered the rising trend of contactless solutions in African countries. A combination of increased issuance of contactless cards, NFC-enabled POS devices and recent innovations in Tap-to-Phone payments is likely to shift the card payment experience for many customers. Therefore, regulations being drafted to cover contactless payments are welcome, as long as they enable and encourage this new payment solution. From the first draft of the guidelines, that looks to be the case. |
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