Mastercard and Moovn Sign Five-Year Deal to Expand Digital Payments Across East Africa

NAIROBI — Mastercard and Moovn Technologies signed a five-year strategic agreement on Oct. 19, 2026 to expand digital payment infrastructure across East Africa. The partnership will integrate Mastercard’s payment network and services into Moovn’s mobility, logistics and e-commerce platforms, initially focusing on Kenya and Tanzania.

The companies said the collaboration will support virtual and physical prepaid Mastercard cards, tokenization and peer-to-peer transfers. It will also expand access to Mastercard Payment Gateway Services and Pay Local merchant acceptance, giving Moovn’s platform businesses more options for collecting and sending funds inside the services they already use.

MoovnPay previously participated in Mastercard’s Start Path Emerging Fintech program. The new agreement moves beyond an accelerator relationship into a multi-year commercial arrangement, but it does not mean every named product is immediately live for every Moovn customer. Issuance, merchant acceptance and transfer capabilities will depend on rollout, licensing, local partnerships and compliance controls.

The partnership illustrates why payment companies increasingly distribute through platforms with an existing mobility or commerce footprint. Mastercard supplies global network infrastructure while Moovn brings local use cases and customer access. The practical test will be adoption, reliability and whether the combined offering reduces friction for merchants and workers rather than simply adding another payment layer.