Scale, a South African card-issuing startup, has entered into a partnership with Mastercard aimed at simplifying how businesses launch and manage card products across five African markets: Senegal, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The collaboration addresses a long-standing bottleneck in Africa’s payments ecosystem, where companies looking to issue cards must navigate a fragmented network of issuing banks, payment schemes and Bank Identification Number (BIN) sponsors.
By introducing a unified, one-integration model, Scale and Mastercard say they will streamline onboarding, processing and compliance. The goal is to allow businesses to focus on product innovation and customer experience, while the platform handles the underlying infrastructure.
“Across Africa, innovators are creating powerful solutions, yet many are slowed down by the complex steps required to issue cards, which has a significant impact on their business, the market, and their growth,” said Miranda Naidoo, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Scale. “This collaboration with Mastercard removes those hurdles by giving businesses one clear, efficient way to enter the market and scale.”
What you need to know
Founded in 2022 by Barbara Woollams and Miranda Naidoo, Scale provides the infrastructure layer for card issuance, including customer onboarding tools and regulatory support. Mastercard, in turn, contributes its global payments network, established banking relationships and market expertise.
The partnership reflects the varied maturity of digital payments across Africa. In Kenya, where mobile money adoption is already widespread and deeply embedded in everyday transactions, the value proposition lies in improving efficiency.
Card usage is growing, particularly in e-commerce and higher-value payments, and the new model is expected to reduce time-to-market for existing fintech players.
However, in markets such as Senegal, Ivory Coast, Zambia and Zimbabwe, where cash and mobile wallets still dominate, the partnership is positioned as an enabler of new financial use cases.
These include companion cards linked to mobile wallets, corporate expense cards, SME-focused payment solutions, and payout cards for governments and non-profit organisations.
“By simplifying the issuing journey, we are supporting fintechs and non-financial institutions as they expand access to digital financial services and bring more consumers and businesses into the formal economy,” said Mete Guney, Executive Vice President, Market Development for Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Mastercard.
Riding the wave of digital payments growth
The partnership comes at a time of accelerating demand for digital financial services across the continent. According to McKinsey, Africa’s financial services sector could generate revenues of approximately $230 billion by 2025, driven by fintech innovation, mobile penetration and a growing middle class.
Globally, the shift towards modern card-issuing platforms is also gathering pace, with projections suggesting that such platforms could account for around 35 per cent of all payment cards issued by 2029.
Scale itself has been building momentum. In October 2024, the startup raised $700,000 to expand its card-issuing infrastructure across Africa, signalling investor confidence in its model and growth potential.
Ambition meets execution challenges
While the partnership gives Scale access to Mastercard’s extensive network and credibility, questions remain about execution.
Operating across five diverse markets presents regulatory and operational challenges, particularly in regions where financial frameworks differ significantly and mobile money solutions are already deeply entrenched.
The key test will be whether Scale can match its expansion ambitions with the operational depth required to navigate these complexities effectively.
For now, the partnership represents a significant step towards simplifying card issuance in Africa. Whether it can translate into widespread adoption and measurable impact will likely become clearer over the next twelve months.
Talking Points
It is a timely move that Scale is partnering with Mastercard to simplify card issuance, tackling one of the most persistent friction points in Africa’s fintech ecosystem.
By reducing the need for multiple integrations with banks, BIN sponsors and payment networks, the one-integration model directly addresses the operational bottlenecks that often delay product launches and increase costs for businesses.
At Techparley, we see this as a critical step towards unlocking faster innovation in Africa’s fintech space, where infrastructure challenges often slow down otherwise promising solutions.
This approach is particularly relevant in markets where fintech innovation is growing rapidly but execution remains constrained by backend complexity. Simplifying this layer could enable businesses to focus more on customer value and less on operational hurdles.
In more mature markets like Kenya, the value is clear in improving speed and efficiency for existing players. However, the bigger opportunity lies in markets such as Senegal, Ivory Coast, Zambia and Zimbabwe, where card adoption is still developing.
With the right execution, this collaboration could play a significant role in reducing barriers to card issuance and driving the next phase of digital payments growth across Africa.
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