Fintech deals continue to make news in Africa as more companies – and countries – embrace digital payment and banking.
Among recent announcements is the news that South African fintech player Ukheshe has agreed to buy Oltio from Mastercard.
Oltio is the company that developed the digital payments platform for Masterpass, Mastercard’s QR code payments service. When Mastercard first acquired mobile payments technology company Oltio from Standard Bank Group in 2018 it reported that Oltio had pioneered and patented several mobile payments and banking solutions, including an authentication technology.
Ukheshe has an established partnership with Mastercard and is a participant in the payment giant’s Accelerate programme. The programme, Ukheshe says, allows it to tap into Mastercard’s technology, data, expertise and global network of corporate clients and fintechs to help scale its operations globally.
Ukheshe says it will continue to provide the same support to the banks and other service providers that currently offer Masterpass, ensuring business continuity with no impact to consumers or merchants.
The transaction is anticipated to close by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, African financial technology company Cellulant has announced a partnership with device identity and omnichannel authentication company Entersekt. Cellulant says that the partnership will enhance its cybersecurity by proactively securing its digital banking channels and guarding against digital banking and payment frauds.
The partners in the deal point out that banking fraud remains a real threat in Africa, and that banking app security in particular is a real challenge.
Entersekt is working with the Cellulant team to integrate its mobile software development kit with Cellulant’s product stack, making Entersekt’s authentication and app security solutions available to Cellulant’s clients. Two large Kenyan banking groups are already working on their deployment.
