UnionPay International partners with M2M to drive digital transformation in Africa

CASABLANCA, Morocco, Nov. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — UnionPay International (UPI) and M2M jointly announced a partnership to accelerate digital financial transformation in Africa, creating new frontiers by leveraging two entities’ strong core capabilities and footprints.

This partnership sets an ambitious product roadmap that allows M2M to provide innovative and customer-centric payment solutions to support issuers, acquirers, fintechs, processors and aggregators across more than 40 countries worldwide.

“Becoming UPI’s certified Third Party Service Provider (TPSP) is a major milestone underscoring our drive to be a one-stop shop and a service payment platform that truly offer clients solutions covering the entire value chain of payments including issuing, acquiring and processing of expanding UPI’s transactions worldwide”, said Mr Rachid SAIHI, CEO of M2M Group. “Thanks to this partnership, M2M Group will be among the first payments actors in Africa to provide end to end processing solutions for UPI’s transactions”.

“We are delighted to collaborate with M2M to facilitate the digital financial transformation in Africa”, said Mr Luping Zhang, General Manager of Africa Branch, UnionPay International. ” UnionPay International continues to offer high quality, cost-effective, innovative payment services through shared growth in the region and contribute value towards the global payment ecosystem”.

At the forefront of the digital era, M2M Group leverages more than 30 years of worldwide innovation and expertise. M2M Group is a leading software company that provides multichannel electronic payments and eGov solutions and services that enable convenience and trust for anyone, anywhere, anytime, and any device. M2M Group’s solutions address a wide range of applications accelerating digital convergence, enhancing user experience and boosting business agility and profitability. M2M Group is listed on Casablanca’s Stock Exchange.

With over 160 million UnionPay cards issued outside of mainland China, UnionPay has expanded its acceptance network to 180 countries and regions in recent years. At present, UnionPay cards are widely accepted in Africa across all sectors, effectively meeting the diverse purchasing needs of UnionPay cardholders visiting and living on the continent. Over 10 African countries have issued UnionPay cards, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, eSwatini, Madagascar and Mauritius. The Nilson Report (Issue 1154) shows that UnionPay ranks first among all card schemes in card issuance and transaction volume. UnionPay has launched various innovative payment products in Africa in response to the worldwide digital transformation and financial inclusion.