Glossary
Mobile money
Mobile money is an account held with a mobile network operator or its financial arm, identified by the phone number, funded with cash at agents and used to pay, transfer and save from a basic phone or an app: M-Pesa in Kenya and Tanzania, MTN MoMo and Airtel Money across many African countries, Vodafone Cash in Ghana and Egypt. In much of Africa it is the main way money moves, with far more accounts than bank accounts, and online merchants reach their customers through it or not at all.
How online payments work
The checkout asks for the phone number and sends a payment request; the payer confirms with a PIN on the phone; the operator debits the wallet and confirms to the provider, which confirms to the merchant. Some operators use a code the payer enters instead. Payouts are transfers to the phone number, usually instant, with the recipient cashing out at an agent.
What to know
Each operator is its own system with its own interface, limits and fees, often reached through an aggregator licensed in the country; confirmations may be delayed and must be reconciled; limits per transaction and per day are low compared with cards; and regulation of e-money and agents is national.
On the platform
Tranzify lists mobile money operators by country with the providers that connect them; the hosted checkout runs the phone-number flow, the status model waits for the operator’s confirmation, and payouts to mobile money go through the same provider accounts.
Updated: 2026-11-08