Canada-Africa Fintech Summit – Canada-Africa Fintech Convergence – Nurturing Talents, Fueling Growth, Forging Cross-Border Prosperity for Sustainability
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MoMo Rwanda and Mastercard launch virtual payment card
MTN Rwanda’s fintech arm, Mobile Money Rwanda (MoMo Rwanda), has partnered with payment giant Mastercard to launch a new virtual payment solution in Rwanda.
Known as Virtual Card by MoMo the partners say it will allow MoMo customers to make secure global e-commerce payments. Indeed, this virtual card, for which all MTN Rwanda customers can apply, is said to provide a secure method for customers to shop or make payments at any global outlet that accepts Mastercard.
Earlier this year we reported that Mastercard and MTN Group Fintech had signed a multi-market agreement that will use Mastercard’s technology and capabilities to support MTN’s ambition to become Africa’s largest fintech platform for both merchants and consumers.
M-KOPA Nears $400M Annual Revenue as Africa’s Largest Pay-As-You-Go Fintech Scales Across Sub-Saharan Markets
An African fintech that has built its success on a 30,000-strong team of direct salespeople is steadily expanding its profitability across sub-Saharan Africa. Now, M-KOPA, a pay-as-you-go asset financing platform serving 5 million underbanked Africans, is on the verge of reaching a major milestone: surpassing an annual revenue rate of $400 million by the end of the year.
Headquartered in London, the fintech concluded last year with 4 million customers and $248 million in ARR. This impressive growth is particularly noteworthy given the challenging economic environment. With local currencies losing value against the dollar and inflation eroding consumer purchasing power, sustaining dollarized growth in African markets has been a significant challenge. Despite these obstacles, M-KOPA has not only endured but is thriving.
Standard Chartered exploring potential sale of wealth and retail banking units in Botswana, Uganda and Zambia
Standard Chartered has announced it is exploring the potential sale of “a small number of businesses” to fund “incremental investment” in its wealth management operations.
Standard Chartered is exploring the sale of a small number of businesses
As part of what it calls “the first in a small number of potential business exits”, the banking group says it is “exploring the potential sale of its wealth and retail banking (WRB) businesses in Botswana, Uganda and Zambia”.
Standard Chartered’s group chief executive, Bill Winters, says: “We continually assess the efficacy of our global business model and regularly take action to concentrate resources where we have the most distinctive client proposition.
KPMG UK joins Fintech Scotland to further boost fintech innovation in Scotland
KPMG UK has partnered with FinTech Scotland, with the aim of promoting innovation and encouraging the adoption of advanced technologies within the fintech landscape in Scotland.
By joining FinTech Scotland’s network, KPMG UK seeks to bring added expertise to support the continued development of Scotland as a fintech hub while advancing its own plans for growth in the region. As part of its global professional services network, KPMG UK will share insights on financial services innovation, addressing the rapid changes brought by emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, distributed ledger technology, and open finance. Furthermore, KPMG UK’s involvement is expected to also help ensure fintech community in Scotland remain at the forefront, promoting impactful innovation through collaboration and driving financial inclusion.
Brazil Considers Banning Stablecoin Withdrawals to Self-Custodial Wallets
The Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) reportedly aims to prevent centralized exchanges from allowing their users to withdraw stablecoins to self-custodial wallets.
Transfers of stablecoins between residents would be restricted in cases in which Brazilian law allows payments in foreign currencies, CryptoSlate reported Friday (Nov. 29), citing the central bank’s public consultation notice on its regulatory proposal.
“The initiative reflects our commitment to adapting the financial system to the realities of digital assets while safeguarding the integrity of international capital flows,” the BCB said in the report.
The BCB is responsible for creating rules for the crypto industry in Brazil under a crypto regulation bill approved in the country in December 2022, according to the report.
Monetary Authority of Singapore Fines JPMorgan Over Inaccurate Disclosures
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has imposed a civil penalty of $2.4 million Singapore dollars (about $1.8 million) on JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., alleging misconduct by the bank’s relationship managers (RMs).
The MAS found 24 over-the-counter (OTC) bond transactions in which JPMorgan’s relationship managers made inaccurate or incomplete disclosures to clients, and the bank failed to prevent and detect this misconduct, the regulator said in a Monday (Dec. 2) press release.
“This enforcement action on JPM follows MAS’ review of pricing and disclosure practices in the private banking industry,” the release said. “Investigations found that for OTC bond transactions, JPM’s practice was to charge clients a spread over the interbank prices. As the interbank prices were not available to clients, they had to rely on the RMs’ representations to them regarding the interbank prices and spreads.”
