TerraPay, a global money movement company, announced a collaboration with five leading wallet operators to establish the Wallet Interoperability Council, which aims to leverage TerraPay’s technology to facilitate interconnection and interoperability in cross-border transactions.
Together, these operators serve millions of wallet users in regions such as Bangladesh, Colombia, Kenya, Senegal , Tanzania and Uganda . The founding members of this council include Airtel, bKash, MPESA, Nequi and Sama Money .
The Council’s goal is to facilitate merchant payments, international remittances and other cross-border transaction use cases by connecting the various platforms and promoting the interoperability of global wallets. While wallets have so far served primarily as local payment solutions, there is a clear demand to expand to the global realm and TerraPay’s technology is designed to facilitate this expansion.
“This initiative is an important and timely development – and Safaricom is delighted to join the Wallet Interoperability Council. This collaboration with TerraPay pioneers interoperability for global wallet payments and will accelerate our efforts to provide our users with more value for international money movements,” said Esther Masese Waititu , Chief Financial Services Officer, Safaricom PLC.
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This open collaboration will pool expertise and resources to create the conditions for secure, efficient and cost-effective cross-border wallet transactions for payments and money movement. TerraPay is enabling this initiative by providing both the technological infrastructure and handling the clearing and settlement processes.
María del Pilar, Chief Product Officer at Nequi said: “The collaboration between us and TerraPay is a strategic move that will accelerate the adoption of digital wallets and financial platforms globally and improve the overall cross-border payment experience. This is a team effort where we share and complement each other’s capabilities.”
“We are excited to be part of this effort and to be able to deliver tangible benefits to our customers and shareholders. Until now, the only way to enable our users to use their wallet internationally was to enter into bilateral agreements, but we cannot sign hundreds of them efficiently, so this alliance brings value to all participants,” said Ian Ferrao , CEO of Airtel Money .
Several studies show that by 2028, there will be more than 7 billion wallets processing a volume of around USD 16 trillion. Multi-lane wallets are gaining importance in e-commerce and in-person settings, with cross-border payments playing a crucial role in the expansion of wallets.
SOURCE: PRNewswire