Connecting people to financial services
Financial inclusion is essential to reducing extreme poverty and delivering significant social benefits and economic opportunities.
Globally, 1.4 billion adults do not have a bank account, but among them, an estimated 1.1 billion have a mobile phone. Digital services are key to helping people access safe, secure financial services.
Mobile money is an important enabler of financial inclusion. In sub-Saharan Africa 33% of adults hold a mobile money account. In 11 of these economies, more adults hold only a mobile money account than an account with a bank or other financial institution.
Despite this progress, around 66% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa remain unbanked.
Without the ability to transfer money, people struggle to save, access loans, start a business, pay their bills or receive payment.
Our platforms for financial inclusion
We connect people to financial inclusion services to help deliver greater opportunities for economic prosperity of our customers - we work with various licensed banking and financial services providers to enable people in remote areas to access payments, loans and savings on their mobile devices.
VodaPay
In South Africa, VodaPay democratises access to financial services including telco products, bill payments, insurance and lending to both Vodacom and non-Vodacom customers.
VF Cash
In Egypt VF Cash is an e-wallet and financial services platform catering to the banked and unbanked. It offers money transfer, e-commerce, insurance, savings, donation services and utility, merchant and tuition payments.
M-Pesa in Tanzania, DRC, Mozambique and Lesotho
In 2007, in partnership with the UK’s Department for International Development, we launched a new innovative service for the unbanked in Kenya. M-Pesa, M – for mobile, and Pesa – the Swahili word for cash was a novel concept that converts physical cash into e-money. By following simple instructions on their phones, customers can make payments securely using a simple handset and on 2G networks.
M-Pesa is Africa’s biggest financial services provider based on transactions processed. M-Pesa delivers financial inclusion by providing financial services to people and businesses with a mobile phone and limited access to a bank account.
We aim to connect 75 million customers to mobile money and financial inclusion services by 31 March 2026.
Latest success stories
M-Koba, another flagship product, has been recognized for its significant impact on Tanzania's savings landscape. With over 300 000 groups and 2 million members—70% of whom are women—M-Koba has revolutionised the way people manage their savings by providing a secure, transparent, and convenient platform. The platform partners with non-profit organizations (NPOs) focused on empowering women and youth, especially in rural areas. These collaborations aim to enhance financial literacy and digitalise savings practices for target markets that may still rely on traditional methods.
M-Wekeza is the first mobile-based investment scheme, enabling customers in Tanzania to invest from as little as TZS 1 000 with a lucrative annual interest rate of up to 13%. The platform supports sustainable economic growth by providing Tanzanians with opportunities to grow their wealth through secure and convenient digital investments. M-Wekeza promotes an inclusive investment culture, ensuring that everyone, from low-income earners to high-income earners, has equal opportunities to invest and save.
In Mozambique, M-Pesa Merchants Paga Fácil is essential for distributing M-Pesa services, targeting both formal and informal merchants. We launched Mini Paga Fácil to support informal merchants, who make up over 80% of the population and contribute around 40% to the GDP. Since June 2024, we onboarded 67 000 merchants, with 47 000 currently active.
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