Ericsson and Mastercard Enhance Global Digital Money Movement and Accelerate Digital Financial Inclusion

WHY THIS MATTERS:
Cross-border payments remain one of the most fragmented layers of global finance—particularly in emerging markets where mobile money adoption is high but interoperability is limited. Telecom-led digital wallets have become critical financial access points for millions of users, yet connecting those ecosystems seamlessly to global payment rails has historically required complex integrations, compliance hurdles, and significant capital investment.

By integrating Mastercard Move into Ericsson’s Fintech Platform, the partnership directly addresses that gap. Telecom operators and wallet providers can now plug into Mastercard’s global money movement infrastructure—spanning 200 countries, 150 currencies, and 17 billion endpoints—without building bespoke cross-border capabilities from scratch.

The strategic starting point in the Middle East and Africa is telling. These regions lead in mobile money usage, remittances, and wallet-based ecosystems, but still face friction in international transfers and interoperability. Simplifying connectivity while maintaining compliance could materially accelerate financial inclusion and digital commerce participation, particularly for unbanked and underbanked populations.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and Mastercard today announce a collaboration to reshape how money moves across the world. By integrating the Ericsson Fintech Platform (Mobile Financial Services) with Mastercard Move – Mastercard’s portfolio of money movement solutions – the collaboration will empower telecom service providers, banks, and fintechs to expand digital wallet capabilities, launch new payment services, and reach unbanked or underbanked communities.

Ericsson’s pre-integrated application programming interfaces (APIs), cloud-native deployment and compliance-ready infrastructure simplifies fintech connectivity to Mastercard Move.

These capabilities reduce technology complexity, lower operational barriers (by simplifying integration, deployment and compliance) and accelerate time to market for new payment services – all aimed at catalyzing innovation and growth in the sector.

The Ericsson-Mastercard collaboration transforms how financial services are built, delivered and scaled. It creates new revenue streams and strengthens digital ecosystems across emerging and developed markets.

Financial inclusion and accessibility are key focuses of the collaboration. Mastercard Move enables money movement across 200 countries and territories, connecting more than 17 billion endpoints, and supporting transactions in 150 currencies.

Ericsson’s fintech platform operates in 22 countries, serving more than 120 million active users and processing more than 4 billion transactions every month across digital wallets, payments, remittances, lending, and loyalty services – all backed by enterprise-grade security.

Mastercard Move’s integration into Ericsson’s Fintech Platform aims to accelerate the adoption of digital payments and expand participation in the digital economy.

The global rollout will begin in the Middle East and Africa, where demand for mobile money, remittances and interoperable payment services is particularly strong.

Pratik Khowala, Global Head of Transfer Solutions, Mastercard, says: “Mastercard Move empowers payment service providers to shape the future of money movement – delivering fast, secure and transparent transfers for individuals and businesses worldwide. By integrating with Ericsson’s fintech platform, we’re opening new pathways for telecom operators, financial institutions and fintechs to scale innovative payment services, reach underserved communities and unlock fresh revenue streams. This collaboration not only meets the rising demand for digital cross-border payments, but also accelerates progress toward a more connected, inclusive and dynamic global digital economy.”

Pavan Bachwal, Head of Mobile Financial Services, Ericsson, says: “Joining forces with Mastercard marks a bold step toward the future of money movement. Combining Ericsson’s trusted, scalable platform with Mastercard Move enables our customers to launch secure and efficient payment solutions faster than we ever have before. Together, we are driving financial inclusion, accelerating innovation, and creating new growth opportunities across the globe.”

FF NEWS TAKE:
This is infrastructure meeting scale. Ericsson brings the wallet layer and telecom distribution. Mastercard brings the global settlement engine. Together, they are creating a cleaner bridge between mobile money ecosystems and international payment rails.

The real story isn’t just faster transfers—it’s ecosystem expansion. Telecom operators gain new revenue streams. Banks and fintechs reduce integration friction. Users gain broader access to cross-border services within platforms they already trust.

If executed well, this model could become a template for how global card networks and telecom fintech platforms collaborate—combining regulated global reach with deep local wallet penetration. In a world where digital wallets are often the first bank account, partnerships like this are shaping the next phase of global money movement.