Ericsson and Mastercard Partner to Expand Digital Payment Services in Middle East and Africa

Ericsson and Mastercard have announced a partnership to expand digital money movement services, starting with a rollout in the Middle East and Africa. The collaboration aims to drive growth in mobile wallets, cross-border payments, and financial inclusion, particularly in regions with large unbanked and underbanked populations.

Under the agreement, Ericsson will integrate its Fintech Platform, which supports mobile financial services, with Mastercard Move, Mastercard’s global money transfer solution. The integration allows telecom operators, banks, and fintech companies to enhance digital wallet capabilities and offer new payment services more efficiently.

The combined solution will connect Ericsson’s cloud-native fintech infrastructure and pre-integrated application programming interfaces (APIs) directly with Mastercard Move. This connection enables money transfers across more than 200 countries and territories, supporting transactions in 150 currencies. Mastercard Move already links over 17 billion endpoints worldwide. The companies said the integration is designed to simplify compliance, reduce technical complexity, and accelerate the launch of new services, helping service providers scale digital payment offerings more quickly.

Ericsson’s fintech platform currently operates in 22 countries, serving over 120 million active users. It processes more than 4 billion transactions each month, covering services such as digital wallets, remittances, lending, and loyalty programmes. The initial rollout will focus on markets in the Middle East and Africa, where mobile money usage is growing rapidly and demand for interoperable payment systems is high.

Pratik Khowala, global head of transfer solutions at Mastercard, said: “Mastercard Move empowers payment service providers to shape the future of money movement – delivering fast, secure, and transparent transfers for individuals and businesses worldwide. By integrating with Ericsson’s fintech platform, we’re opening new pathways for telecom operators, financial institutions, and fintechs to scale innovative payment services, reach underserved communities, and unlock fresh revenue streams.”

Pavan Bachwal, head of mobile financial services at Ericsson, added: “Joining forces with Mastercard marks a bold step toward the future of money movement. Combining Ericsson’s trusted, scalable platform with Mastercard Move enables our customers to launch secure and efficient payment solutions faster than we ever have before.”

The partnership reflects a growing focus on digital financial services in regions where mobile wallets and remittances are becoming essential tools for everyday transactions. By combining Ericsson’s technology infrastructure with Mastercard’s global money transfer capabilities, the collaboration aims to accelerate digital payments adoption and enhance financial inclusion across emerging markets.

Analysts say the move could create opportunities for telecom operators and fintechs to offer new, innovative payment services while reaching previously underserved populations. As the Middle East and Africa continue to see rapid growth in mobile money usage, this partnership positions Ericsson and Mastercard at the forefront of digital financial solutions in the region.