Africa Fintech Spotlight
Africa Fintech Network
A platform that unites Africa fintech leaders, organizations and stakeholders.
Mastercard, PayTabs Partner to Power SME Digital Payments in Egypt
Mastercard announced a strategic collaboration with PayTabs Group to facilitate digital payment solutions for small and medium enterprises in Egypt.
Through this collaboration, PayTabs will leverage Mastercard’s global network and digital payments capabilities to provide merchants with a while-labelled digital payments platform. This solution is designed to elevate payment acceptance capabilities for small and medium enterprises, driving the widespread adoption of contactless payments while accelerating the country’s digital transformation agenda.
How Zambia’s eShandi is transforming financial inclusion with “AI-powered finance”
Zambian startup eShandi, a pan-African challenger bank, is leveraging AI-driven creditscoring and digital financial services to provide instant, collateral-free loans, seamless payments, and banking solutions, empowering underbanked SMEs and individuals across Africa.
Founded in 2019 as PremierCredit, and initially as a microfinance institution, eShandi has built a platform that leverages new technologies such as AI to assess the creditworthiness of unbanked individuals, who tend to have little of the formal documentation that traditional banks require.
It now offers a range of digital lending and flexible financial solutions that cater to the needs of everyday Africans and SMEs, while offering a clear pathway to financial empowerment and self-reliance.
Netbank and JuanHand Announce Partnership to Enhance Lending Services
Philippine rural bank Netbank Inc. and fintech lending application JuanHand have announced a strategic partnership today. The partnership aims to extend financial services, particularly business loans, to unbanked and underserved communities across the nation.
This collaboration between the two fintech firms seeks to empower Filipinos. They want to provide innovative lending solutions tailored to their specific personal and business financing needs.
GCash to Launch Government GBonds in First Half of 2025
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) anticipates launching government securities through the “GBonds” feature on the GCash mobile wallet between January and June of this year.
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The Philippines’ Deputy Treasurer at the Bureau of the Treasury, Department of Finance, Sharon P. Almanza announced that GCash is currently testing the GBonds feature, which will utilise the Philippine Digital Asset Exchange, Inc. (PDAX) for bond trading.
Read more: https://fintechnews.ph/66462/financial-inclusion/gcash-launch-government-gbonds-first-half-2025/
Contactless dominates UK spending
The percentage was up from 93.4% in 2023, with Brits making 236 contactless payments on average across the year, according to data from Barclays. The cost of the average purchase increased from £15.69 to £16.10, meaning the average person spent £3,803 via contactless in 2024, up from £3,623 in 2023.
For the fourth consecutive year, the over 65s were the fastest growing group of contactless users, with 84.1 per cent of this group currently using the payment method. Convenience continues to drive uptake, as over two thirds of those aged 61-79 agree that contactless payments are easier than chip and PIN.
Mondu expands B2B payment network across Europe with Payin3 and Lemonway
As a well-established flexible payment provider to consumers in the Dutch market, Payin3 has partnered with Mondu to bring the same flexibility and smooth checkout experience to business buyers.
Levergaging its EMI licence, Mondu will be able to provide more flexibility to business buyers in the Netherlands through the partnership, benefiting from access to Payin3's PSP networky.
Malte Huffmann, co-founder and Co-CEO of Mondu, comments: “Our integration with Payin3 is part of our commitment to providing merchants and their business buyers with enhanced payment flexibility, which is crucial for scaling their operations effectively.”
Binance Integrates Apple Pay and Google Pay Through Worldpay
Binance is bringing crypto one step closer to the mainstream with the integration of Apple Pay and Google Pay, thanks to a new partnership with global payments provider Worldpay.
According to the official blog post, the move allows users to purchase digital assets directly using cards linked to these popular wallets, streamlining the onramp experience both on desktop and within the Binance app.
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2wExciting move