Mastercard acquires Oltio from Standard Bank
Furthering its ambitions to displace cash in emerging markets, Mastercard has acquired mobile payments technology company Oltio from South Africa’s Standard Bank.
Founded in 2011 as a joint venture between Standard Bank and airtime operator MTN, Oltio’s technology is currently used to authenticate Masterpass digital wallet purchases in South Africa using a consumer’s bank PIN and mobile phone.
The acquisition will enable Mastercard to further lean on Oltio’s platform for the provision to member banks of person-to-person payments, bill payments, and airtime top-ups, which can be integrated into existing mobile banking applications.
Andrew Wilmot, executive, group card and rmerging payments for Standard Bank, says: “We have had a great relationship with Mastercard over the years, and believe that Oltio will thrive as part of an issuer-independent payments company with Mastercard’s vast global resources and innovative technology.”
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
