Scale, a South African card-issuing startup, has partnered with Mastercard to make it easier for businesses to launch card products across five African markets Senegal, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
For many companies on the continent, issuing payment cards is still a complicated process. It often requires coordinating with multiple players issuing banks, payment networks, and BIN sponsors creating bottlenecks that slow down launches and increase operational strain. Scale and Mastercard say their partnership is designed to remove that friction.
At the centre of the collaboration is a “one-integration” model that brings onboarding, processing, and compliance into a single flow. The idea is simple: businesses focus on building products for their customers, while the platform handles the behind-the-scenes complexity.
How that plays out, however, differs by market.
In Kenya, where mobile money is already deeply embedded and card usage is rising especially for e-commerce and higher-value transactions, the partnership is expected to help fintechs move faster by cutting down time-to-market and simplifying operations.
In markets like Senegal, Ivory Coast, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, where cash and mobile wallets still dominate, the opportunity is more foundational. The focus there is on unlocking new use cases from companion cards for mobile wallets to SME payment tools, corporate expense cards, and payout cards for governments and non-profits.
Founded in 2022 by Barbara Woollams and Miranda Naidoo, Scale provides the infrastructure layer everything from issuing capabilities and customer onboarding tools to regulatory support. Mastercard, on the other hand, brings its global payments network, established bank partnerships, and experience operating across multiple markets.
“Across Africa, innovators are building powerful solutions, but many are slowed down by the complexity of issuing cards,” said Miranda Naidoo, Scale’s co-founder and CEO. “This partnership with Mastercard creates a clearer, more efficient path to market and scale.”
The deal builds on Scale’s recent momentum. In October 2024, the startup raised $700,000 to expand its card-issuing platform across Africa, betting on the continent’s growing appetite for digital payments. That demand is only expected to rise. McKinsey estimates Africa’s financial services market could reach $230 billion in revenue by 2025, while globally, modern card-issuing platforms are projected to account for about 35% of all payment cards issued by 2029.
For Mastercard, the partnership is another step in deepening its footprint in Africa by supporting the infrastructure powering fintech growth.
“By simplifying the issuing journey, we’re enabling fintechs and even non-financial institutions to expand access to digital financial services,” said Mete Guney, Mastercard’s Executive Vice President for Market Development across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Still, while the partnership gives Scale the reach and credibility to expand quickly, execution will be key. Each of the five markets comes with its own regulatory realities, and in some especially where mobile money is already dominant Scale will need to prove that card products can offer clear, additional value.
The next year will likely determine whether this partnership becomes a true catalyst for card adoption or just another layer in Africa’s already evolving payments landscape.