Mono collaborates with Mastercard to power innovative payment solutions for digital commerce in Africa

• Collaboration with Mastercard Gateway will enable businesses to benefit from account-to-account capabilities, instantly elevating consumer payment experience.

Lagos, Nigeria – April 02, 2024: Mastercard has collaborated with Mono Technologies Nigeria Limited to introduce account-to-account (A2A) payments and a suite of other open banking products, powered by Mastercard Gateway.

This collaboration will leverage Mono’s expertise in open banking and Mastercard Gateway’s advanced payment technology to provide businesses in the region with a secure and streamlined A2A payment solution, addressing evolving consumer needs and enhancing the overall payment experience. This is the first A2A payment implementation via Mastercard Gateway in the Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA) region.

This collaboration marks a significant milestone in Mastercard's Alternate Payment Methods (APM) strategy in Nigeria and advances the goal of making Mastercard Gateway a multi-rail gateway. Through this collaboration, both parties aim to create an ecosystem that fosters financial inclusion, drives innovation, and stimulates growth in the region's digital economy. Customers benefitting from the new technology – ranging from merchants, fintechs, telcos, governments, and financial institutions – will seamlessly gain access to account-to-account capabilities instantly elevating the payment experience for individuals and businesses.

“Embedding Mono’s open banking solution within Mastercard Gateway forms an integral part of our strategic blueprint to enrich and expand the payment methods available to our customers. We envision a future where secure, efficient A2A payments transcend from being merely aspirational to an everyday reality, providing seamless transaction experiences for our customers. This collaboration not only underscores Mastercard's commitment to driving innovation and advancing financial inclusion in Nigeria and beyond, but also aligns closely with Central Bank of Nigeria’s mission to provide digital payment experiences to Nigerian citizens.” said Folasade Femi-Lawal, Country Manager and Area Business Head, West Africa, at Mastercard.

Mono, an Open Banking infrastructure company, aims to enable businesses to collect direct bank payments and get user-permissioned access to customer financial data reliably and securely. With over 50 financial connections across Africa, Mono’s mission is to power Africa’s internet economy and enable businesses to provide personalized and innovative services to consumers across the continent. Through this collaboration with Mastercard, Mono will be enabled to expand its influence in the open banking space in Nigeria and the African region.

“This is an important step for us and for fintech and Open Banking payments in Africa,” shared Abdul Hassan, CEO and co-founder of Mono." This collaboration with Mastercard bolsters our efforts and expands our influence in Nigeria and the African region, allowing us to provide more innovative Open Banking payment solutions and contribute actively to the evolving needs of internet businesses and consumers in Africa.”

This collaboration also represents a continuation of Mastercard’s capacity building for Mono. In 2022, Mono became the first Nigerian and Open Banking company to join the inaugural Mastercard Open Banking Start Path Program. Through the Start Path program, Mono leveraged Mastercard's open banking and financial technology expertise, as well as Mastercard's robust network of partners, banks, and merchants, to deliver and scale its Open Banking solutions.

Through this collaboration, Mono’s mission to power the internet economy in Africa and provide open banking infrastructure and solutions for the future of financial services converges with Mastercard's mission to connect and power a digital economy that benefits everyone.