Global: Mastercard and SAVA Forge Partnership to Empower African SMEs with Innovative Financial Solutions

Mastercard and Johannesburg-based fintech firm, SAVA, have joined forces to empower small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs) across Africa by leveraging cutting-edge payment technology and infrastructure.

This strategic collaboration aims to extend support to small businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt. SAVA’s Payment Transaction System (PTS) will be the driving force behind an online platform, offering digital bank accounts and integration tools for accounting. This initiative seeks to enable SMEs to enhance their expense management processes with increased efficiency.

SAVA’s utilization of advanced technology simplifies financial management for SMEs, facilitating the scaling of their business operations. As part of the partnership, SAVA will furnish SMEs with virtual and physical cards, allowing pre-configured budget management through the SAVA app. Integration with accounting packages will empower SAVA’s customers to control and manage expenditures on employee cards, saving time and money through automated reconciliations.

Dimitrios Dosis, President, EEMEA, Mastercard, expressed the importance of the collaboration, stating:

“At Mastercard, we are dedicated to harnessing the power of partnerships and deploying transformative technology to build a sustainable future where everyone can thrive. Our new collaboration with SAVA represents an important step in our efforts to support small businesses that are key drivers of economic growth. By deploying the right, efficient technology we continue to boost financial inclusion in Africa and enable SMMEs to reap the full benefits of the digital economy.”

CEO of SAVA, Kola Olajide, emphasized the collaboration’s significance:

“Our collaboration with Mastercard reflects our credibility, epitomizes the essence of working together to transform pioneering ideas into reality, and underscores our shared commitment to developing innovative solutions tailored to the needs of African markets. We are excited to expand the utilization of this distinctive proposition that empowers SMMEs to manage their financial operations with greater control.”

SAVA is currently operating in Kenya and South Africa, with Access Bank as its sponsor bank in South Africa and Microsoft as a supporting partner. The partnership has received approvals from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to launch in South Africa. SAVA aims to address SMME pain points around expense filing and management, offering physical cards for shoppers and central dashboard control over spending, eliminating the need for cash transactions. Furthermore, SAVA customers will access an array of financial services while managing spending across different platforms.