Global issuer-processor, Paymentology, says it has launched Africa’s first mobile money tap-to-pay feature with Vodacom Tanzania and M-Pesa Africa, now available on the M-Pesa SuperApp. The new capability allows M-Pesa customers to make contactless payments using their Android mobile phones at any Visa-enabled point-of-sale terminal, both locally and internationally. Tanzania’s mobile money ecosystem continues to expand at pace.
Figure from the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority suggests that the number of mobile money accounts reached 76.5 million as of December 2025, a rise of approximately 21 percent from 63.2 million in 2024, highlighting how rapidly digital financial services are becoming embedded in everyday commerce and continuing the strong growth trajectory seen in recent years.
The new tap-to-pay feature is supported by Paymentology’s cloud-first issuing and processing infrastructure, extending the functionality of the M-Pesa Visa Virtual Card and enabling secure, tokenised, tap-and-go payments without the need for a physical card. The solution brings together mobile money, virtual cards and global card acceptance into a single, seamless customer experience.
In Tanzania, says Paymentology, Tap-to-Pay opens new opportunities for merchants and entrepreneurs to serve customers who increasingly expect contactless, mobile-based payments, while giving consumers greater freedom to pay securely wherever Visa is accepted, at home or abroad, through a familiar mobile-money interface.
Visa has also made digital payments news in the Ethiopian market where the Bank of Abyssinia and Visa have strengthened their partnership with a new agreement aimed at advancing digital payment solutions across Ethiopia. The collaboration is set to expand Visa product offerings issued by the bank while enhancing digital payment capabilities, enabling faster, more secure, and seamless financial transactions.
