Mastercard Collaborates With Fintech Firm SAVA to Empower SMEs Across Africa With Innovative Financial Technology

Mastercard and Johannesburg-based fintech firm, SAVA, have unveiled a collaborative venture aimed at bolstering small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs) through cutting-edge payment technology and infrastructure.

This strategic partnership will extend to small businesses across South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt, offering them access to an online platform driven by SAVA’s Payment Transaction System (PTS). This platform will feature digital bank accounts and integration tools for accounting, empowering SMEs to streamline their expense management processes with greater efficiency.

By using advanced technology, SAVA simplifies financial management for SMEs and helps them scale their business operations. As part of the agreement, the fintech player will provide SMEs with virtual and physical cards where budgets can be pre-configured and managed via the SAVA app. By integrating the offering with their accounting packages, SAVA’s customers will be able to control and manage spend on their employee cards and save time and money by automating reconciliations.

Speaking on the partnership, President EEMEA, Mastercard Dimitrios Dosis said,

“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,” says Dimitrios Dosis, President, EEMEA, Mastercard.

Also speaking, CEO SAVA Kola Olajide said,

“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 now operating in Kenya and South Africa. Access Bank is our sponsor bank in South Africa, while Microsoft is a supporting partner in bringing our vision to life. We are grateful to the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) for believing in our vision and granting us the required approvals to launch in South Africa. We are also grateful to all our investors, notably Breega, Quona Capital and CRE Ventures, for their support on the SAVA journey”.

In addition to addressing pain points around expense filing and management experienced by SMMEs, SAVA can be used to issue physical cards for shoppers and control spending from a central dashboard, eliminating the need for cash transactions.  Moreover, SAVA customers will be able to manage spending across different platforms accessing an array of financial services.