Vodacom Brings Apple Pay-Style Convenience To Tanzania With Tap-To-Pay M-Pesa

Vodacom Tanzania, in partnership with M-Pesa Africa and global issuer-processor Paymentology, has officially launched Africa’s first mobile-money Tap-to-Pay feature on the M-Pesa SuperApp, marking a historic shift in how consumers across the continent can pay.

The new capability allows M-Pesa customers to make secure, contactless payments using their Android mobile phones at any Visa-enabled point-of-sale terminal, both locally and internationally. The innovation transforms the everyday transaction experience for millions of users, enabling them to pay, travel, and do business with a simple tap.

Epimack Mbeteni, M-PESA Director at Vodacom, emphasized the collaborative effort behind the milestone:

While this marks the first time mobile-money Tap-to-Pay is available in Tanzania, it also represents a watershed moment for the wider African fintech landscape.

The rollout reflects a broader economic shift where mobile payments and real-time digital transactions are becoming increasingly central to commerce. Tanzania’s mobile money ecosystem continues to expand at pace; the number of mobile money accounts reached 76.5 million as of December 2025, a rise of approximately 21% from 63.2 million in 2024.

Powering this innovation is Paymentology’s cloud-first issuing and processing infrastructure.

The Tap-to-Pay feature extends the functionality of the M-Pesa Visa Virtual Card, enabling secure, tokenised, tap-and-go payments without the need for a physical card. By integrating mobile money, virtual cards, and global card acceptance into a single, seamless customer experience, Paymentology is accelerating its long-standing commitment to financial inclusion and digital access across Africa.

Meagan Rabe, Vice President of Merchant Services, Acquiring and Fintech for Sub-Saharan Africa at Visa, highlighted the synergy driving the project:

The rollout builds on Paymentology’s more than 20-year track record of supporting payment innovation across African markets and its successful collaboration with M-Pesa in Kenya. This expansion into Tanzania lays the foundation for further regional growth, reinforcing M-Pesa’s evolution beyond domestic payments as interoperable digital systems account for a growing share of economic activity.

Anna Porra, Chief Revenue Officer at Paymentology, reinforced the company’s mission in enabling the next generation of payments:

In Tanzania, Tap-to-Pay opens new opportunities for merchants and entrepreneurs to meet the rising demand for contactless, mobile-based payments.

It also gives consumers greater freedom to pay securely wherever Visa is accepted, whether at home or abroad, through the familiar M-Pesa interface. This latest launch builds on the momentum from last November, when Vodacom Tanzania introduced M-Pesa Global Payment, a suite of international payment features allowing over 22 million users to pay merchants in China, Dubai, Uganda, and anywhere Visa is accepted, directly from their phones.

That global service was launched in partnership with a broad network of industry leaders, including Visa, Alipay, Network International, Magnati, and MTN Uganda.