MTN Mobile Money democratizes online payment in Africa via Visa.

If until now it required about $40 USD to acquire your Visa card in Africa via a set of resellers, henceforth, freely MTN customers’ devices will be able to pay using their MTN Mobile Money account in stores with Visa Points Of Sale (POS). In addition, customers will be able to make online payments at all Visa merchants and withdraw money from their MTN Mobile Money account at any Visa ATM.

In this dynamic, MTN Mobile Money customers in Ghana will be first to experience the innovative new mobile payment solution when it’s launched in that country before

the end of 2013.

For those who unfamiliar, MTN Mobile Money enables users to do national and international money transfers, make utility and other service payments, purchase airtime, access insurance and financial products and make retail payments.

MTN Group announced that, at 30 September 2013, MTN Mobile Money had 13,4 million registered users, and was available in 13 countries.

About VISA

Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world’s most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 30,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit corporate.visa.com

About the MTN Group

Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator, connecting subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN.” As of 30 September 2013, MTN recorded 203.8 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia.