By: Nana Appiah Acquaye
Paymentology, the leading next-generation global issuer-processor, has powered the launch of Africa's first mobile-money Tap-to-Pay feature with Vidacom Tanzania Plc and M-Pesa Africa in launching Africa's first mobile-money Tap-to-Pay feature, now available on M-Pesa SuperApp.
The
new capability allows M-Pesa customers to make contactless payments using their
Android mobile phones at any Visa-enabled point-of-sale terminal, both locally
and internationally, transforming how millions of users pay, travel and do
business.
Epimack
Mbeteni M-PESA Director at Vodacom said “What began as a simple idea, giving
M-Pesa customers the freedom to tap and pay anywhere using just their phones,
is now a live reality. This launch is the result of deep collaboration across
Vodacom, M-Pesa Africa, Visa and Paymentology, and reflects our shared
commitment to making payments simpler, safer and more accessible for millions
of people.”
While marking Africa’s first mobile-money
Tap-to-Pay launch, the rollout also represents the first time this capability
is available in Tanzania, reflecting a broader shift, where mobile payments and
real-time digital transactions are increasingly central to the economy. Tanzania’s mobile money ecosystem continues to expand at pace. The
number of mobile money accounts reached
76.5 million as of December 2025, a rise of approximately 21% from 63.2
million in 2024, highlighting how rapidly digital financial services are
becoming embedded in everyday commerce and continuing the strong growth
trajectory seen in recent years.
Reflecting Paymentology’ s long-standing
commitment to accelerating innovation, financial inclusion and access to
digital payments across Africa, the Tap-to-Pay feature is supported by its
cloud-first issuing and processing infrastructure, extending the functionality
of the M-Pesa Visa Virtual Card and enabling secure, tokenised, tap-and-go
payments without the need for a physical card. The solution brings together
mobile money, virtual cards and global card acceptance into a single, seamless
customer experience.
Meagan Rabe, Vice President of Merchant Services, Acquiring and
Fintech for Sub-Sahara Africa at Visa, stated “The advancement of mobile-money
Tap-to-Pay is the result of effective collaboration within the payments
ecosystem. Visa offers a robust global network and contactless infrastructure,
Paymentology facilitates secure tokenisation at the issuer level, and Vodacom
provides extensive reach through its trusted M-Pesa platform, relied upon by
millions. Collectively, this partnership is establishing Tap-to-Pay as a widely
adopted payment solution for daily transactions.”
The rollout builds on the successful
collaboration between Paymentology and M-Pesa in Kenya and reflects
Paymentology’ s more than 20-year track record supporting payment innovation
across African markets, extending that partnership into Tanzania and laying the
foundation for further expansion across the region. It also reflects M-Pesa’s
continued evolution beyond domestic payments, as real-time, interoperable
digital payment systems account for a growing share of economic activity.
Anna
Porra, Chief Revenue Officer, Paymentology said “At Paymentology, we believe
innovations like Tap-to-Pay accelerate financial inclusion by making everyday
transactions simpler and safer for everyone. This launch marks an important
step forward for the country’s digital economy. We’re proud to support Vodacom
and M-Pesa, alongside Visa, with the issuer-processing capabilities that enable
fast, secure and next-generation payments for millions of people.”
In Tanzania, Tap-to-Pay opens new opportunities
for merchants and entrepreneurs to serve customers who increasingly expect
contactless, mobile-based payments, while giving consumers greater freedom to
pay securely wherever Visa is accepted, at home or abroad, through a familiar
mobile-money interface.
