South Africa’s MTN has signed an agreement to form a partnership with Pan-African Bank- Ecobank on mobile banking across Africa, the telecoms group and lender said on Tuesday.
Rob Shuter, group CEO of MTN, and Ade Ayeyemi, CEO of Ecobank, attended the signing in Lagos, the commercial hub of Nigeria.
The collaboration between these two pan African giants will expand financial inclusion across the continent and connect Africans in Diaspora with instant and affordable remittances.
Bringing together the massive mobile subscriber base of MTN (126 million) with Ecobank’s award winning digital banking products, the initiative is expected to have great impact and includes transfers between accounts and mobile money wallets, savings and loans, cardless ATM withdrawals and a lot more.
Ayeyemi, Group CEO of Ecobank said: “The changing landscape of digital banking and mobile telephony is creating unique opportunities in the way and manner customers are served. Africa will need to digitise financial services to rapidly scale up client acquisition and patronage. MTN and Ecobank are taking the big step today at this grand event to support this agenda”
Further he reiterated that “Ecobank’s digital strategy has long been committed to ensuring transaction convenience for the market. We have made giant strides in our mission to ensure financial inclusion and today’s agreement with MTN will greatly accelerate the easy availability of banking services to the previously unbanked.”
Commenting on the collaboration, MTN Group President and CEO, Shuter said: “Partnerships between banks and mobile money operators are fundamental in the mobile money ecosystem, hence our long-standing partnership with Ecobank in many of our markets aimed at driving financial inclusion. We are excited to be taking this partnership to the next level as this latest development will spearhead innovative initiatives which will deepen financial access on the continent.”
