A rider books a trip, a driver gets paid, and a shop owner takes an order, all through one wallet. That is the simple idea behind a new five-year agreement between Mastercard and Moovn Technologies. The deal brings Mastercard’s payments network into MoovnPay, the digital wallet inside Moovn’s mobility, delivery and shopping services. It aims to make East Africa digital payments easier for riders, drivers, merchants and small businesses.
What East Africa Digital Payments Could Look Like
Users will get virtual and physical prepaid cards inside the wallet, along with peer-to-peer transfers and eligible cross-border remittances. Merchants will accept online and in-app payments, and Pay Local is expanding across Kenya and Tanzania so shops can take payments directly from MoovnPay users. Shooga, Moovn’s tool for payments, fundraising and donations, will sit at the centre of the experience. Together, these features could make East Africa digital payments feel like part of daily life instead of a separate task.
Why Easy Payments Matter for Small Business
Kenyan small businesses already show a strong appetite for mobile payments, which makes simple tools more valuable. Mastercard’s 2026 SME Confidence Index found that 95 percent of Kenyan SMEs accept mobile payments, and 80 percent want simple, user-friendly options for future growth. Across the continent, Africa now has 36 live instant payment systems in 31 countries, according to the AfricaNenda Foundation. That growing base gives East Africa digital payments a solid foundation to build on in the coming years.
Godwin Gabriel, Moovn’s founder and group chief executive, said the collaboration is about building “more than a payment product.” Shehryar Ali of Mastercard added, “Payments are increasingly woven into the platforms people use every day to travel, work and trade.” The two companies first connected through Mastercard Start Path in September 2025, and they have since moved into a commercial rollout. Next comes the Shooga prepaid card launch and wider Pay Local, which could carry East Africa digital payments from early rollout to everyday use.
