Money movement company TerraPay has established a ‘Wallet Interoperability Council’ with five prominent payment operators to enhance interconnection in cross-border transactions.
The founding members of the council include Airtel, bKash, MPESA, Nequi, and Sama Money, which collectively serve millions of wallet users across regions such as Bangladesh, Colombia, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda. The council’s objective is to facilitate merchant payments, international remittances, and various use cases in cross-border transactions by linking their primarily domestic platforms.
Esther Masese Waititu, Chief Financial Services Officer at Safaricom, stated, “This initiative is a significant and timely development. This collaborative effort with TerraPay pioneers interoperability for global wallet payments and will accelerate our mission to provide more value to our users for international money movement.”
As part of the initiative, TerraPay will supply the necessary technology infrastructure and manage clearing and settlement processes for wallet transactions.
Ian Ferrao, CEO of Airtel Money, remarked, “Previously, the only option for our users to use their wallet internationally was to secure bilateral agreements, which is not feasible on a large scale. This alliance brings value to all participants.”
Forecasts suggest that by 2028, there will be over 7 billion wallets processing approximately $16 trillion in volume. Cross-border capabilities are considered crucial for boosting transaction volumes and enhancing the functionality of wallet ecosystems for consumers.
Ambar Sur, CEO of TerraPay, noted, “TerraPay currently connects more than 100 digital wallets, and we have been working on the technology to support interoperability since our inception. The formation of this council is a significant milestone in our mission to drive the next wave of wallet evolution, enabling a local user experience on a global scale.”