Mastercard and TeamApt Ltd., a subsidiary of Moniepoint Inc., have announced a strategic collaboration aimed at expanding digital payment acceptance and strengthening financial infrastructure for businesses across Africa. The partnership will see TeamApt operate directly on Mastercard’s global payments network as a non-bank acquirer, a move expected to enhance transaction processing for Nigeria's small and medium-sized enterprises.
Partnership to Expand Merchant Payment Acceptance
The arrangement is expected to strengthen TeamApt’s ability to onboard licensed entities and provide seamless payment acceptance, transaction processing, and acquiring services. It will also expand card acceptance infrastructure, enabling more businesses to accept Mastercard payments across in-store, online, and mobile channels.
The partnership combines TeamApt’s switching infrastructure with Mastercard’s global network to support secure, high-volume transactions across multiple payment channels. This collaboration is designed to make digital payments more accessible and reliable for businesses and consumers alike.
Boost for Nigerian Small Businesses
The development could provide a major boost for Nigeria’s small and medium-sized businesses, many of which are increasingly turning to digital tools to grow their operations. Nigeria is home to more than 40 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), while Mastercard’s 2026 SME Confidence Index showed strong optimism among Nigerian small businesses about their growth prospects.
With easier access to digital payment infrastructure, merchants could serve more customers, improve transaction reliability, and participate more actively in the digital economy. The partnership is expected to help bridge the gap between informal-sector businesses and formal financial systems.
Faster, Safer Digital Transactions
Mastercard said the collaboration will combine its global scale with TeamApt’s understanding of local markets to deliver more reliable and secure payment experiences. Folasade Femi-Lawal, country manager for West Africa at Mastercard, said expanding digital payment acceptance can help small businesses compete, grow, and reach more customers.
She noted that the partnership would provide MSMEs and informal-sector businesses with secure infrastructure to process transactions across multiple channels while opening opportunities for growth, credit access, and cross-border trade. Dennis Ajalie, chief executive officer of TeamApt, described the collaboration as an important step towards removing barriers within Africa’s payments ecosystem.
According to him, working with Mastercard will allow TeamApt to extend its infrastructure capabilities, helping businesses accept payments more seamlessly while enabling users to transact securely both locally and internationally.
Global Payment Access for Customers
The partnership also has an international dimension. Mastercard cards supported by TeamApt’s infrastructure will be usable across millions of merchant locations worldwide. This means customers can benefit from secure global payment options, while merchants will have an easier path to serving both Nigerian and international customers.
TeamApt is a Central Bank of Nigeria-licensed switching and processing company that has spent more than a decade developing financial infrastructure for banks, fintechs, and other institutions. Its technology supports transaction processing across multiple payment channels, helping businesses and consumers participate in the digital economy.
Building on TeamApt’s Financial Infrastructure
The collaboration also strengthens Moniepoint’s wider ecosystem. With operations and agent coverage spanning all 774 local government areas in Nigeria, the group is positioned to drive wider adoption of digital financial services. For African businesses, particularly Nigeria’s vast MSME sector, the Mastercard-TeamApt partnership could mark another significant step towards making digital payments more accessible, secure, and convenient.
In a related development, Legit.ng previously reported that the federal government has announced plans to develop a continent-wide payment card which would enable direct transfers between currencies of African countries, eliminating the need for intermediary currencies like the US dollar. Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed the plan when he met with a Mastercard delegation in Abuja on Tuesday, June 23.
