Mastercard, TeamApt Boost Digital Payments for 40M MSMEs

Mastercard and TeamApt, a financial infrastructure company owned by Moniepoint, have announced an expanded collaboration aimed at increasing digital payment acceptance among businesses and financial institutions in Nigeria, targeting over 40 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Under this agreement, TeamApt will function as a non-bank acquirer on Mastercard’s global payments network, enabling it to onboard licensed entities and provide payment acceptance, transaction processing, and acquiring services across in-store, online, and mobile channels.

This partnership combines TeamApt’s switching infrastructure with Mastercard’s global network, facilitating high-volume transaction processing and enhancing the infrastructure available to merchants accepting Mastercard cards. Folasade Femi-Lawal, Country Manager for West Africa at Mastercard, stated that this initiative is crucial for supporting small businesses in Africa.

Dennis Ajalie, CEO of TeamApt, emphasized that the collaboration would improve payment acceptance for businesses and offer consumers greater transaction flexibility. This partnership aims to address the challenges posed by Nigeria's substantial informal sector and fragmented merchant base.