Mastercard has partnered with South African fintech startup Scale to launch a unified card issuing platform across five African markets, aiming to simplify and speed up the rollout of payment card programs.
The initiative will initially cover Kenya, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Zambia and Zimbabwe, addressing longstanding operational hurdles that fintechs and non-financial companies face when launching card products.
Card issuance in many African markets has traditionally been complex and fragmented, requiring coordination with multiple stakeholders such as issuing banks, payment networks, BIN sponsors and regulators, often leading to high costs and long deployment timelines.
Under the partnership, Scale will provide core issuing technology, including customer onboarding, compliance systems and card program management, while Mastercard will contribute its global payments infrastructure and financial institution network.
The companies said the platform offers a single integration model that reduces complexity and allows businesses including fintechs, telecom firms and retailers to launch card programs without building extensive issuing capabilities.
“This collaboration removes key barriers for innovators looking to enter and scale in the card issuing space,” said Miranda Naidoo, co-founder and chief executive of Scale.
Mete Guney, executive vice president at Mastercard, said simplifying the issuing process would help expand access to digital financial services across the continent.
The partners said the platform is designed to adapt to varying market conditions. In Kenya, where digital payments are relatively advanced, the focus will be on accelerating time-to-market and enabling product innovation. In markets such as Senegal and Zambia, where card usage is still developing, the platform is expected to support use cases such as mobile wallet-linked cards, corporate expense cards and government payout solutions.
The announcement comes shortly after Scale raised $700,000 to support its expansion in Africa.
Africa’s financial services sector is projected to reach $230 billion in revenue by 2025, driven by increasing digitisation and smartphone adoption. Modern issuing platforms are also expected to account for a growing share of global card issuance in the coming years.
The companies said they will need to navigate differing regulatory frameworks and banking systems across the five markets as they scale the platform.
The partnership could help accelerate digital payments adoption and broaden financial inclusion across the continent if successfully implemented.