by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG – MTN Mobile Money South Africa has launched MoMo Pay, aimed at powering digital payments for informal merchants.
Designed for ease, affordability, and scale, MoMo Pay empowers traders to accept payments instantly via QR code, merchant ID, or payment request with a minimal transaction fee of 0,5 percent.
Kagiso Mothibi, Chief Executive Officer of Fintech at MTN South Africa, said the country’s informal economy was rich with entrepreneurial potential, but until now, it had been locked out of the digital finance revolution.
“With MoMo Pay, we’re not just digitising payments – we’re unlocking a pathway to financial dignity and scalable opportunity for every vendor, spaza shop, and street trader.”
MoMo merchants can sell value-added services such as airtime, data, prepaid electricity, DStv, Lotto and bus tickets.
Thousands of merchants have been onboarded, supported by MTN’s merchant acquisition team.
MTN reports that with no registration fee, fast setup and a mobile-first user experience, MoMo Pay is gaining traction in townships, rural areas and high-footfall urban markets.
“We’ve designed MoMo Pay to be radically accessible,” Mothibi explained.
“There’s no paperwork burden, no tech complexity – just a smartphone and a vision to grow.”
Over the next three to five years, MTN aims to digitise thousands of informal SMEs, turning MoMo Pay into a cornerstone of financial inclusion and economic resilience in South Africa.
