South Africa-based enterprise payments platform provider Nomanini has announced it is integrating with MFS Africa to enable informal merchants to send and receive international remittances.
The Nomanini platform enables informal merchants and micro-entrepreneurs in emerging markets to distribute digital goods, such as airtime and prepaid electricity, as well as facilitate cash transfers, bill payments and other banking transactions for people in informal markets.
The integration with MFS Africa will allow merchants to facilitate international remittances, increasing their financial service offering in their communities.
“This means that merchants in far-flung areas can act more and more like a bank branch, increasing the level of financial inclusion where it’s most needed,” said chief executive officer (CEO) Vahid Monadjem.
MFS Africa connects over 120 million mobile money recipients across all major mobile networks in Africa, and Nomanini’s clients will have immediate access to this network, increasing the availability of mobile money in informal and rural areas across Africa.
By offering international remittances and other mobile money services, Nomanini merchants increase direct revenue, and also attract footfall to their business. Consumers will gain from the greater availability of mobile money services, because informal retail merchants are 10 to 20 times more prevalent than mobile money agents.
“‘Mobile money’ used to be a catch-all phrase used to describe everything from consumer wallets to building agent networks, to switching to more services, and international remittances. This is now maturing into a fintech industry with more specialist roles,” Monadjem said.
Disrupt Africa reported last month Nomanini had launched a loans system for Ghanaian merchants, aimed at offering credit to informal retailers previously excluded from financial services.
