Mahindra Comviva adds Mastercard debit option to African mobile money

Mahindra Comviva has announced the debut of its connectMoney Service Manager, part of a deal with Zimbabwean operator Econet Wireless that will allow MasterCard debit cards to be used with mobile money services in Africa.

As a part of the first live deployment of connectMoney Service Manager, Econet Wireless has issued MasterCard debit cards linked to the EcoCash Wallet. This is one of the largest roll-outs of secure EMV Chip and PIN payment cards in Zimbabwe, the company said.

The connectMoney Service Manager connects mobile money services to financial systems powered by MasterCard and other card networks. EcoCash account holders will receive MasterCard debit cards allowing users to transact at POS terminals and also to withdraw cash via ATM machines accepting MasterCard, locally and internationally.

ConnectMoney Service Manager also offers virtual cards on request. The virtual card number is delivered through a SMS, which is accepted for payments across all e-commerce websites. The virtual card is directly connected to the mobile money account of the subscriber.

 “Electronic payments acceptance is crucial to the Zimbabwean economy,” said Mr. Srinivas Nidugondi, senior vice president and head of mobile financial solutions at Mahindra Comviva. “It is imperative to provide convenient and integrated solutions to the consumers. connectMoney Service Manager will provide seamless interoperability with heterogeneous systems and services.”

The connectMoney Service Manager is a “platform-agnostic” offering that benefits multiple customer groups: Consumers gain access to a large network of physical and online merchants, and the ability to pay via mobile money accounts; merchants increase transactions by accepting payments from mobile money accounts; the service provider sees an uptake in payments and enhanced revenues.

 

Related reading

Leave a comment