Vodacom Group is the mobile operator boasting the largest financial services operation on the African continent, with revenue, active users and transaction volumes surpassing those of rival MTN Group.

On a continent where formal banking penetration is low, financial services has become a key strategic revenue generator for both operators, who expanded their fintech empires as part of their five-year strategic plans to 2025.

As they look to 2030, their focus on financial services is set to sharpen, with both aiming to have a larger portion of group revenue coming from their fintech operations.

TechCentral’s comparison looks at fintech performance for each operator’s financial reports for the past year, which is for the year to 31 March 2025 for Vodacom and the year to 31 December 2024 for MTN.

“Financial services is the key driver of our ‘beyond mobile services’. Our financial services strategy is focused on driving and deepening financial inclusion for both consumers and merchants. As we deepen financial inclusion across our markets, we expect to unlock new economic growth opportunities,” Vodacom said in its annual report.

“One of the most exciting opportunities in this regard is wealth management, with our recent launches of wealth products in Tanzania and Kenya charting a new growth vector for our financial services business.”

Group fintech revenue for Vodacom reached R34-billion for the year. This was generated by 87.7 million active fintech subscribers through 42.6 billion transactions. Transaction values processed in the year peaked at US$450.8-billion (R7.8-trillion at time of writing).

‘Super apps’

MTN generated R23.3-billion in revenue from its fintech operations. This was driven by 63.1 million monthly active users through 15.3 billion transactions. Total transaction values for the year reached $321.3-billion (R5.5-trillion).

Both Vodacom and MTN have consumer-facing mobile money applications driving their fintech strategies. Vodacom’s is through the VodaPay, Vodafone Cash and M-Pesa “super apps”, while MTN’s uses a single app called MoMo.

Both operators have gained some financial services traction in their home market of South Africa, but relatively high rates of formal banking penetration have restricted growth. Other African markets have soared.

Read: Capex clash: Vodacom, MTN and Telkom battle over network supremacy

For Vodacom, M-Pesa has seen massive success in Kenya, where individuals and businesses use the platform for day-to-day purchases. M-Pesa revenue grew of 15.2% in FY2025, driven by a 10.5% increase in active customers. Transaction volumes grew 27% to 36 billion.

As mobile operators penetrate financial markets, the complexity of the services they offer also increases. These advanced financial services include cross-border remittances, insurance and lending products. In 2024, Vodacom launched wealth management services in Kenya and Tanzania. Assets under management in Kenya reached KSh10-billion (R1.3-billion).

“Advanced financial services, such as savings, loans and merchant offerings, contributed more than 40% of M-Pesa revenue in the year, consistent with our strategy to expand the ecosystem,” said Vodacom.

MTN’s segmented reporting on its fintech operations did not include revenue figures. However, Nigeria, MTN’s largest market by revenue and customers, grew fintech revenue by 21.6%. At 48% revenue growth, MTN Ghana’s fintech division had one of the highest growth rates across the group, although likely off a lower base than Nigeria.

When it comes to advanced services, MTN has taken a focused approach on the remittances market, with $4.4-billion transferred between its various African markets in 2024. It’s bank-tech platform disbursed $1.7-billion in loans over the same period.

Read: Vodacom, MTN join GSMA coalition to deliver $30 smartphone for Africa

“We continue to scale our marketplace lending service, onboarding new partners and expanding the services across the footprint. We have accelerated the roll-out of MoMo Advance in Cameroon and Ghana, adding to Uganda,” said MTN. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media

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