NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 5–Airtel Money, has announced a partnership with African payments company, Flutterwave, to expand Airtel services to businesses across Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, and Rwanda.
The partnership will enable businesses that integrate Flutterwave in the five countries to receive and send funds through Airtel Money.
The new services will go live subject to regulatory approvals in the respective countries and will reach Airtel Money’s 19.2 million customers based in East Africa.
According to Airtel, Covid-19 has triggered a widespread shift in the adoption of mobile money services, with the GSMA reporting a 12.7 percent increase in the number of registered global mobile money accounts in 2020.
As the trend continues its upward spike, this partnership further responds to the growing dominance of cashless societies across the sub-Saharan region and the need to penetrate digital innovation deeper into communities across Africa.
Airtel Mobile Commerce BV CEO, Vimal Kumar Ambat reiterated the firm’s commitment to bridging the digital divide and enhancing financial and digital inclusion for millions of businesses across sub-Saharan Africa.
“Our partnership with Flutterwave will help to empower even more customers through simple and accessible payments services, using the latest technologies, that support business innovation and boost local economies,” he said.
Flutterwave Founder and CEO, Olugbenga GB Agboola, commented, “Our business goal is to continue to support African businesses digitize their payments methods and introduce them to a world of opportunities that come with digitization. We are excited to have partnered with Airtel Money to further advance local businesses’ payment methods which will allow them to increasingly provide more services to their customers, grow their customer base and revenue.”
