Starting later this month, users of Samsung Wallet in the United States will be able to transfer money instantly to others, no extra apps, no waiting days for the bank, and no need to even be face-to-face.

Here’s how it works: I can open Samsung Wallet, select a debit card, and tap it to someone else’s card or digital wallet using NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. 

The money goes straight to their bank account, Visa and Mastercard are on board with this. No more waiting for ACH transfers or telling someone to download yet another payment app.

The feature even works with physical debit cards—as long as they support tap-to-pay, your friend doesn’t need a wallet app. Their chip does the job. Samsung Wallet communicates directly with that chip, just like a contactless payment at the store. 

And if the person you’re paying isn’t near you, there’s still a way: just search their phone number to find their Samsung account and send money remotely.

Drew Blackard, senior vice president of Mobile Product Management at Samsung Electronics America, put it simply: “Samsung Wallet is a powerful tool readily available on millions of Galaxy smartphones, and with this update, we’re taking the experience to the next level. Many users want the flexibility to accomplish their most frequent and important tasks on their mobile device. Samsung Wallet will help make payments to friends and family quick and convenient.”

This is more than a payment tool. Samsung Wallet already stores essentials like your driver’s licence, credit and debit cards, boarding passes, loyalty cards, gift cards, gym memberships, and even student IDs. With Tap-to-Transfer, Samsung’s pushing to make the app a core part of how we manage daily interactions.

For anyone tired of dealing with multiple apps, long wait times, or clunky interfaces, this is a shift. I don’t need to ask what app they use or wait three days for the money to land in their bank. I tap. They get it. Simple.

And in a world where convenience often gets buried under technical requirements, this change brings something rare: a direct, fast, and easy way to split bills, pay back loans, or send money to someone in a pinch.

It’s a small feature with big potential—and if you’ve got a Galaxy phone, you won’t have to wait long to try it.

• Commitment underpinned by strategic investments, public-private partnerships, and market innovation initiatives
• Focus on enabling MSMEs, scaling cross-border payments, and empowering fintech companies

Africa’s digital payments economy is set to grow from strength to strength according to a Mastercard-commissioned report by Genesis Analytics stating that the digital payments economy is expected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030.

As a longstanding technology partner to Africa, Mastercard continues to strengthen its commitment to the continent’s digital growth through strategic investments, public-private partnerships, and innovation initiatives that drive financial health and economic growth.

By fostering collaboration with key stakeholders, Mastercard aims to enhance digital connectivity, expand economic opportunities, and enable millions of people and businesses to thrive in the digital economy.

Driving Africa’s digital growth

Mastercard’s investments will focus on three key areas to further accelerate digital adoption and financial inclusion:

1. Enabling Africa’s Micro, Small and Medium Businesses (MSMEs)
2. Empowering Africa’s fintech sector
3. Scaling remittances and cross-border payments

“Africa is filled with immense possibilities, and its people have the potential to shape the global economy in the decades ahead. Mastercard remains deeply committed to driving digital transformation across the continent, working closely with entrepreneurs, merchants, banks, start-ups, telcos, and governments. By increasing our investments, expanding innovation, and fostering inclusion, we are helping build a more connected and accessible digital future,” said Dimitrios Dosis, president, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Mastercard.

 Africa’s digital transformation is underpinned by rapid advancements in internet penetration and financial inclusion, two of the fastest-growing enablers of digital payments across the continent.

According to the report, internet penetration in Africa is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 20%, while financial inclusion is set to expand at 6% per year​.

These trends signal a strong shift towards digital transactions, with businesses and consumers increasingly embracing contactless solutions, further accelerating economic participation and financial accessibility across the region.

“For over five decades, Mastercard has worked alongside African governments, businesses, and communities to advance financial inclusion and economic development. With Africa projected to host nine of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies, we are focused on leveraging our expertise and technologies to support the continent’s continued digital transformation. Our investments today will help build a more resilient economy for the future,” said Mark Elliott, division president, Africa, Mastercard.

1. Enabling Africa’s Micro, Small and Medium Businesses (MSMEs)

Recognizing that MSMEs account for over 50% of Africa’s GDP, Mastercard continues to provide digital solutions that empower small businesses and drive economic expansion.

This commitment is reinforced by the Mobilizing Access to the Digital Economy (MADE) Alliance: Africa, in partnership with the African Development Bank Group.

The initiative aims to extend digital access to critical services for 100 million individuals and businesses over the next decade. As part of its broader goal to bring users onto Community Pass, Mastercard has set a target to register 15 million users in Africa within five years.

Community Pass is a social enterprise initiative that digitizes and connects remote, and rural communities to governments, NGOs, and private sector services.

To further fuel the potential of Africa’s MSMEs, Mastercard will accelerate easy access to its proprietary solutions such as Tap on Phone and SME-in-a-Box.

The technology company will also continue to enable access to finance through its Track Micro Credit Program, which has already benefited thousands of micro merchants. Furthermore, African entrepreneurs will continue to gain knowledge on how to thrive as business owners through free learning resources such as The Entrepreneur’s Odyssey and Mastercard Trust Center.

2. Empowering Africa’s fintech sector

Africa’s fintech ecosystem is a key driver of digital transformation and economic progress. Nearly half of all fintech firms on the continent have been founded in the last six years, collectively raising $6 billion in equity financing since 2000.

Mastercard is partnering with banks, telcos, and other service providers across Africa and internationally to help accelerate fintech growth and expansion in new markets.

For example, Mastercard’s partnership with M-Pesa in Kenya and MTN Group Fintech has enabled millions of unbanked individuals to access digital financial services through mobile money platforms.

Similarly, Mastercard’s collaboration with digital wallet providers and e-commerce platforms has facilitated the integration of payment solutions into digital ecosystems, enabling seamless transactions for consumers and merchants alike.

For example, Mastercard’s global Fintech Express program provides fintech companies with an end-to-end experience for card issuance.

By combining its identity, biometric, AI and open banking capabilities, Mastercard helps protect consumers across the spectrum of internet and payments scams. 

3. Scaling remittances and cross-border payments

Seamless cross-border transactions are essential for Africa’s economic mobility.

According to the World Bank, Africa received approximately $100 billion in remittances in 2023, accounting for about 6% of the continent’s GDP.

Mastercard is playing a key role in enabling the infusion of funds into local economies. Through a single, secure point of access, Mastercard Cross–Border Services allow people and businesses to remit money securely, and with certainty.

Local partnerships such as the recent agreements with Africa’s Access Bank and Equity Bank, are enabling Mastercard to make cross-border payments more simple, convenient, and accessible.

Furthermore, they are enabling customers in multiple markets to make cross-border payments globally via bank accounts, mobile wallets, cards, and cash.

Mastercard remains committed to driving Africa’s digital growth through investment, innovation, and partnerships.

By enhancing financial inclusion, expanding digital transactions, and strengthening cross-border connectivity, the company is helping to build a more inclusive and resilient digital economy for the African future.

Digital wallet use, especially in Africa, makes sense when so many people live in rural areas where there isn’t easy access to another way of accessing money, such as through ATMs. 

Bank of America predicts that by 2026, digital wallets will be used by more than 5.3-billion people, which is more than 50% of the world’s population.

Other estimates suggest this number may even be as high as two-thirds of the world’s population, growth that is being driven by emerging markets, particularly African economies.

Globally, the main driver for digital products was COVID-19, which forced people indoors and encouraged the use of digital products.

This, says Bank of America, was particularly prevalent globally among older customers and those who had previously stuck to traditional ways of purchasing goods or banking.

In Africa, the local e-payments market is likely to see revenues gain by around 20% percent a year, according to McKinsey.

This means that the market will be worth about $40-billion by 2025. By comparison, the global market is expected to grow at 7% a year over the same time.

However, cash is still king. McKinsey says that while digital is growing rapidly as a payment form, cash is still used for 90% of all transactions on the continent, adding that because cash still dominates, offline channels and large cash network points such as Mukuru’s 320,000 access points where people can interact with cash at a booth or through an agent are still vital.

It is also important to recognise that not having a smartphone or access to 4G shouldn’t be a limiting factor for financial inclusion, which is why making use of USSD and WhatsApp (which consumes less data) is often a critical factor determining whether a financial service provider will be relevant in many African markets.

Convergence and continuum from cash to digital

As eWallets have evolved, they have moved on from being a cash-in and cash-out system to a system that enables and unlocks financial inclusion digitally.

The transition happened organically because trust was built over time on the ability to move and store cash seamlessly, making life easier for cash-based customers.

As trust grew, more digital financial products have been offered to customers.

As customers transact, they build a financial record that can unlock multiple products, as well as access to credit.

At Mukuru, we have remained focused on this layering of services, underpinned by trust and market education. As customers have become more digitally savvy, we were able to offer insurance and then loans, leveraging the customer’s transaction history to assess their credit capacity.

McKinsey calls this Wallet 2.0 and points out that there is now a move to Wallet 3.0, which is an offering that adds in-app shopping.

Mukuru customers can access multiple billers through digital channels, such as airtime, utilities or DSTV, and more services will be added in the future. The objective is to enable the other side of the equation, so to speak, by empowering merchants whose customers have more solutions and options to use their digitally stored money.

In practice, we have found that most merchants still prefer cash due to its immediacy and perceived lower cost of business — they have to pay to accept card or mobile money and sometimes that payment is not received until several days after the transaction.

The International Monetary Fund says that the informal economy is a large part of most economies in sub-Saharan Africa.

This sector accounts for between 25% and 65% of GDP, and between 30% and 90% percent of all non-agricultural employment.

This situation is not likely to change any time soon and so merchants would do well to offer both digital and cash options, in other words take a phygital approach, to take advantage of the growth opportunity in sub-Saharan Africa.

Transforming a cash-based economy into a digital one requires multiple actors in the economy to act in unison, but when done deliberately, it becomes an extension of people’s natural behaviour, taking them from cashing out transfers to the realisation they can store money digitally, transfer it to another person or seamlessly pay for any goods or services.

However, without understanding that cash still plays an important role in this process, those who only operate in the digital space will be confined to a niche market and be left behind in Africa’s fast-paced digital revolution.