Mastercard and Moovn Technologies have entered a five‑year strategic agreement to broaden digital payments across East Africa, merging Mastercard’s global network with MoovnPay’s digital wallet platform.

Under the deal, MoovnPay will issue both virtual and physical prepaid Mastercard cards, support online and in‑app payments, tokenisation, peer‑to‑peer transfers and eligible international remittances.

The new services will be embedded in Moovn’s mobility, logistics, e‑commerce and merchant solutions, targeting drivers, riders, merchants, small businesses and other users.

Users will access prepaid Mastercard cards through a single digital wallet, while the Pay Local feature will let participating merchants accept payments from MoovnPay users across Kenya and Tanzania.

Mastercard Move will support eligible cross‑border transfers, enabling MoovnPay users to send and receive money beyond the mobility and commerce ecosystem.

MoovnPay and Shooga, Moovn’s financial‑inclusion platform for peer‑to‑peer payments, fundraising and donations, will form the core of the offering.

The partnership builds on MoovnPay’s selection for Mastercard’s Start Path Emerging Fintech program in September 2025, after which the two firms have moved toward commercial deployment.

Shehryar Ali, Mastercard’s senior vice‑president and country manager for East Africa, said the collaboration will extend digital financial services to consumers, drivers, merchants and small businesses.

Moovn founder and group chief executive Godwin Gabriel described the deal as more than a payment product, linking the company’s financial services with its mobility, logistics and commerce platforms to improve access and convenience.

Digital payments landscape in Kenya and the region

Mastercard’s 2026 SME Confidence Index shows that 95 % of Kenyan small and medium‑sized enterprises already accept mobile payments, with 80 % citing simple, user‑friendly payment methods as essential for growth.

Africa hosted 36 live instant‑payment systems across 31 countries in 2024, processing over 64 billion transactions worth nearly $2 trillion, according to the AfricaNenda Foundation’s SIIPS 2025 report.

A Mastercard‑commissioned Genesis Analytics report projects the continent’s digital payments economy to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030, driven by growth in digital commerce, cross‑border transactions and fintech innovation.