Mastercard x mTek: Embedded Insurance Comes to East Africa’s Payments Rails

Embedding insurance into everyday payments broadens access, simplifies enrollment, and scales distribution through banks, merchants, and telcos across East Africa.

Embedding insurance into everyday payments broadens access, simplifies enrollment, and scales distribution through banks, merchants, and telcos across East Africa.

Ten digital banking platforms powering Africa’s next chapter: real-time cores, API ecosystems, AI-driven risk, inclusive channels that compress cost-to-serve while elevating compliance, resilience, and growth.

There’s a new badge of honor on the African tech scene: landing a spot on CNBC & Statista’s 2025 World’s Top 300 Fintech Companies list. Ten African startups—from Nigeria’s ubiquitous OPay to Kenya’s asset-financing trail-blazer M-KOPA—made the cut this year. It’s more than bragging rights.

I&M Group PLC—among the region’s most prominent banking conglomerates—has signed a landmark agreement with ThetaRay, the Israeli-American firm renowned for cognitive AI in financial-crime compliance. T

African banking stands at a critical juncture. Driven by a burgeoning young population equipped with smartphones, today's consumers demand instant account opening, real-time payments, personalized financial products, and seamless user experiences across digital channels.

As the fintech industry scales rapidly, so do regulatory requirements. From anti-money laundering (AML) to Know Your Customer (KYC) mandates, compliance has become a complex and resource-heavy challenge.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are rapidly reshaping the fintech landscape in 2025.