Dublin, Feb. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The “Africa Prepaid Card and Digital Wallet Market Intelligence and Future Growth Dynamics Databook – Q1 2026 Update” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.
The Africa prepaid card and digital wallet market is expected to grow by 16.1% on annual basis to reach US$36.1 Billion in 2026. The prepaid card and digital wallet market in the country has experienced robust growth during 2021-2025, achieving a CAGR of 18.8%. This upward trajectory is expected to continue, with the market forecast to grow at a CAGR of 13.3% during 2026-2030. By the end of 2030, the prepaid card and digital wallet market is projected to expand from its 2025 value of USD 31.1 Billion to approximately USD 59.4 Billion.
Competitive intensity is expected to increase as prepaid becomes a key tool for converting mobile money balances into online and cross-border spend. Wallet providers and banks will compete to deliver the highest transaction success rates, robust authentication, and predictable customer support, especially for virtual prepaid use in e-commerce.
Consolidation among processors and acquiring platforms is likely to continue, with larger regional fintech platforms gaining leverage through scale. This can accelerate multi-country rollouts, but it also increases dependence on a smaller number of infrastructure partners for issuance and acceptance.
Current State of the Prepaid Card Market
- Africa’s prepaid market is currently characterized by two parallel growth lanes: (1) wallet ecosystems adding virtual prepaid card credentials to enable online and cross-border spend, and (2) banks/processors expanding domestic scheme issuance and acceptance capacity. Recent launches by Airtel Africa and MTN MoMo Uganda illustrate how prepaid rails are being used to extend mobile money into card-accepted environments.
- At the infrastructure layer, major networks are investing to strengthen processing and reliability in-region, supporting higher digital payment throughput. For example, Visa’s first Africa data centre in Johannesburg signals a stronger push toward local infrastructure resilience, which is relevant for prepaid authorization performance and scale.
Key Players and New Entrants
- Large mobile money operators are central to prepaid growth because they control distribution and wallet balances. Airtel Africa’s GlobalPay rollout and MTN MoMo’s virtual card launches show how telcos are using prepaid credentials as an extension of wallet utility rather than as standalone plastic issuance.
- On the card ecosystem side, domestic schemes and processors are strengthening their influence. Interswitch’s Verve milestone indicates continued expansion of domestic card issuance, which affects how prepaid products can be routed and accepted across markets.
Rapid expansion of “wallet-linked virtual prepaid cards” for e-commerce and international online spend
- Across multiple African markets, mobile money operators are attaching virtual prepaid card credentials to wallets so customers can pay online where card rails are required. Examples include Airtel Africa and Mastercard rolling out the Airtel Money GlobalPay Card across Airtel’s footprint (multi-country), and MTN MoMo Uganda launching the Virtual Card by MoMo with Mastercard and local banking/processing partners.
- E-commerce and app-based services increase the share of transactions that require card credentials, while mobile money remains the primary “account” for many users. Operators are using prepaid card credentials to bridge that acceptance gap without forcing customers into traditional bank onboarding.
- This is expected to intensify, as wallet-to-card models are among the fastest paths to enabling cross-border online payments and subscription-type spending. Expect tighter product controls (KYC tiering, velocity limits, stronger authentication) as volumes and fraud exposure increase.
Strengthening domestic card ecosystems is increasing the relevance of prepaid issuance and acceptance
- Domestic schemes and regional processors are expanding their footprints, making it more practical to issue prepaid at scale. A major example is Verve (Interswitch) announcing a milestone of 100 million cards issued, signalling ongoing expansion of card usage where domestic routing and local acceptance economics matter.
- Governments and regulators are prioritizing resilient domestic payment capacity, while merchants increasingly demand reliable acceptance and predictable costs. This encourages banks, fintechs, and wallets to use prepaid as a controlled entry product for card-based spend, especially for consumers who are debit/credit-constrained.
- Competition between international networks and domestic schemes will likely increase, with prepaid used as a volume driver (consumer spending, controlled disbursements, travel-linked spend). The ecosystem should become more “platform-led,” with issuers choosing partners based on processing capability and compliance performance rather than just distribution reach.
Regulatory and infrastructure changes are shifting prepaid growth from “launch-driven” to “compliance-and-availability-driven.”
- Regulators are issuing operational directives that directly affect card performance and program design. Examples include Nigeria’s central bank directing banks/acquirers to ensure ATMs/POS/virtual terminals are configured for international cards routed through Nigerian acquirers, and Ghana’s central bank publishing guidelines for domestic processing of Ghana-issued payment cards along with reinforced Ghana Card onboarding requirements.
- Higher digital transaction volumes increase fraud and consumer protection pressures, pushing regulators toward enforceable requirements for authentication, routing/acceptance configuration, and identity verification. This changes how prepaid products are onboarded, limited, monitored, and supported.
- Programs with strong KYC operations, monitoring, and dispute handling will scale faster; weaker programs will face limited capacity or slower approvals. Expect more collaboration with regulated banks and certified processors, and more emphasis on availability/uptime and transaction success rates as competitive metrics.
Key Attributes:
| Report Attribute | Details |
| No. of Pages | 795 |
| Forecast Period | 2026 – 2030 |
| Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2026 | $36.1 Billion |
| Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 | $59.4 Billion |
| Compound Annual Growth Rate | 13.3% |
| Regions Covered | Africa |
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bxl0d8
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- African Prepaid Card and Digital Wallet Market
