Mastercard is expanding the scope of its cooperation with SmileID to accelerate the use of advanced identity verification tools for customer onboarding across the African continent.
Mastercard and SmileID, African digital Know Your Customer (KYC) provider, are scaling up their existing paretnership to enable banks, fintechs, mobile money operators and other enterprises in Africa to onboard new customers faster, avoid identity fraud and boost financial inclusion in the region.
The initiative to speed up the rollout of secure digital identity solutions across the continent is supported by a new strategic agreement that also includes a minority investment by Mastercard in Smile ID, underscoring its long-term commitment to digital inclusion and innovation.
The partnership combines the capabilities of Mastercard’s global payments network and digital identity technology with Smile ID’s data verification and fraud detection tools.
The two companies have been cooperating for a year now. In September 2024, the partners agreed to improve merchant onboarding in South Africa, Nigeria, and other African markets by integrating Smile ID’s technology into Mastercard’s Merchant Digital Onboarding Program (MDOP), a solution designed to give banks, mobile network operators, and payment facilitators a secure and automated way to verify and onboard new merchants. In a new partnership stage, the joint ID verification tools will go beyond merchants to include customer onboarding as well.
The collaboration comes as Africa’s digital economy is projected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030, with rising smartphone penetration driving demand for trusted identity solutions. Secure verification across digital channels is seen as key to advancing financial inclusion, preventing fraud, and supporting cross-border commerce.
By integrating Smile ID’s tools into Mastercard’s digital platforms, businesses across Africa will be able to access enhanced capabilities for instant and secure user onboarding, stronger fraud detection including synthetic identity prevention, and compliance with KYC/AML requirements. These scalable solutions also support cross-border transactions and broader digital growth.
With integrations into government and trusted data sources, Smile ID offers unique regional coverage and near real-time onboarding, which strengthens the partnership’s ability to deliver inclusive financial services across Africa.
