MTN Group has expanded its partnership with Ericsson to boost its mobile financial services offering.

The extended partnership aims to broaden the scope of financial inclusion from first-time users to high-end business applications, utilising MTN’s Mobile Money (MoMo) service on the Ericsson Wallet Platform.

The companies have previously signed several agreements focused on improving mobile financial services in Africa. MTN has stated that it aims to improve financial inclusion among the continent’s unbanked, but the firms also aim to meet the more advanced digital needs to individuals and enterprises as they evolve swiftly.

Powered by the Ericsson Wallet Platform, MTN Mobile Money enables individuals and businesses to conduct secure and convenient banking and payment transactions directly from their mobile devices. This includes managing funds, paying merchants and utilities, as well as enabling easy access to loans and insurance services.

The partnership extension includes a transition to public cloud deployments and the refinement of the Open API services framework, fostering the acceleration of fintech innovation in Africa.

Serigne Dioum, Chief Fintech Officer, MTN Group, said: “With 63.5 million active users, our Mobile Money platform is advancing economic empowerment across the continent.”

Michael Wallis-Brown, Head of Mobile Financial Services, Ericsson, added that the partners’ business model “can be applied in any market anywhere in the world to genuinely empower mobile subscribers of all financial standings.” Wallis-Brown recently provided some comments in our features exploring the success of mobile money in Africa.