E-Financial
Digitata Takes Mastercard’s Digital Payment Message to Mobile Masses
Mastercard in collaboration with Digitata Insights, a subsidiary of Digitata, recently launched a gamification campaign to educate South Africans on the benefits of making safe, secure and fast payments with Masterpass, the global digital payment service from Mastercard.
The interactive game – “The Masterpass Race” – showed South African consumers the benefits of Masterpass across digital payments channels including airtime top-up, online purchases, bill payments and in-store payments. It also demonstrated the security features, convenience and ease of use people will find in Masterpass—including the fact that they can pay with a smart app on their smartphones and leave their physical wallets at home.
“We at Mastercard are innovating faster than ever before in our efforts to make digital payments simpler, more secure, and more accessible,” said Gabriel Swanepoel, product development and innovation, Mastercard. “To create widespread adoption of our Masterpass solution, we looked for a unique, fun and engaging platform to bring its benefits to life for consumers. Gamification was a perfect opportunity to educate consumers about how digital payments can improve their lives.”
To participate, subscribers had to dial a USSD short code. Players earned points for by answering questions relating to information supplied in the game about mobile and cashless payments and Masterpass, and completed actions such as downloading and using the Masterpass app. Accumulating points got players to the next level of the game and points could be converted into airtime.
Richard Walton, acting CEO at Digitata Insights, said: “Gamification – the incorporation of game play into online marketing – is an extremely effective way to keep mobile users engaged, offering the ideal opportunity to educate them in an interactive manner. The fact that players could receive free airtime ensured continued engagement and made the game extremely popular.”
Digitata Insights developed the USSD-based gamification service using the company’s MeMe measurable mobile media platform. “Text-based USSD was the ideal channel as all mobile users are familiar with the *111# service. It is also a prolific channel because it is device and network agnostic, which means there is potential to deliver bespoke content to a huge market, all without the subscriber incurring any charges as no data is required.”
To ensure the broadest reach, Digitata Insights partnered with South Africa’s two largest network operators, gaining access to millions of potential customers. The results from the campaign were impressive: more than 398,595 people started the race and some 153,000 reached the finishing line by completing all 17 levels in the game.
“Overall we feel that the Masterpass campaign was on par with some of the biggest USSD-based consumer engagement campaigns run globally,” says Walton. “And despite this form of mobile marketing being around for 15 years already, we’re not aware of any other campaigns that have been able to generate these numbers. We therefore feel that we’ve taken USSD-based marketing to the next level, and are now starting to realise the full potential that this form of mobile engagement has always held.”
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United Bank for Africa (UBA) has announced strategic expansion into more African countries even as it plans to open a new office in Saudi Arabia, marking a significant milestone in its mission to connect Africa with key global markets.
Oliver Alawuba, GMD/CEO, UBA group,
This emerged during the Group’s Half Year Business Review held at its global headquarters in Lagos, where Oliver Alawuba, group managing director/CEO, UBA group, met with senior executives overseeing UBA’s 24-country footprint.
The meeting reaffirmed the bank’s pan-African strategy while outlining bold new steps into global markets.
Alawuba highlighted UBA’s continued growth outside Nigeria, with more than 51.7% of Group revenues now generated from its ex-Nigerian operations.
He described the Saudi expansion as a move that positions UBA to support cross-border trade, attract investment flows, and better serve the African diaspora.
“UBA’s vision is clear—we are building a truly global institution anchored in Africa, but serving customers across continents. Our entry into Saudi Arabia signals confidence in new opportunities and commitment to supporting economic connectivity between Africa and the Middle East,” he said.
The Saudi expansion adds to UBA’s international presence, which currently includes the United Kingdom, United States, France, and the United Arab Emirates. Alawuba also disclosed that the bank is upgrading its operating licence in France to further strengthen its European operations.
“In Europe, UBA has operations in the United Kingdom and is upgrading its licence in France, expanding its capacity to serve cross-border trade, investment flows, and the African diaspora, complementing our over 40-year presence in New York,” Alawuba noted.
Since launching its pan-African journey with an entry into Ghana in 2004, UBA has expanded rapidly across 20 African countries, establishing itself as a leading driver of financial inclusion, innovation, and regional integration.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated announced its plan to raise up to $250m in Additional Tier 1 capital through a private placement of contingent convertible notes.
In a statement filed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited recently, the capital raise was approved by shareholders at the company’s Extraordinary General Meeting held in Lomé, Togo. The private placement offer was launched on July 9 and will run for ten days.
“Following the approval of the shareholders at its Extraordinary General Meeting held on May 28, 2025, in Lomé, Togo, to raise up to $250m in additional Tier 1 capital qualifying instruments via a private placement of contingent convertible notes, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated announces the launch of the AT1 effective July 9, 2025, for ten days. Renaissance Capital Africa has been appointed as the transaction adviser to ETI.”
The move is an initiative aimed at strengthening Ecobank’s capital adequacy, enhancing financial resilience, and supporting its long-term growth ambitions across its diversified pan-African banking platform.
Additionally, Madibinet Cisse, Ecobank’s Company Secretary, said, “This proposed capital raise represents a critical step in our efforts to fortify the bank’s financial foundation and support sustainable growth across Africa.”
It would be recalled that Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, the parent company of the Ecobank Group, has raised an additional $125m through a Eurobond tap, bringing the total size of its 2029 notes to $525m.
Ola Olukoyede, chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has announced that the body has recovered lost funds from the CBEX fraud scheme.
Olukoyede did not announce the amount recovered, but he assured Nigerians that the EFCC is taking action against the promoters of the scheme.
The EFCC Chairman emphasised that the suspects found are facing prosecution.
“We have found a lot of people culpable. Those who promoted that scheme are within our jurisdiction and have been arrested. So, at this moment, they are being prosecuted. And we can also say that money has been recovered, even though the process is still ongoing for us to finally forfeit it,” he said.
Olukoyede also urged Nigerians to exercise caution when investing their resources into online platforms.
“Ponzi schemes remain one of the most pervasive threats facing unsuspecting investors. The CBEX case is a clear example. We all remember the outcry that followed the collapse of the scheme, but these unfortunate situations are preventable. Nigerians must begin to conduct due diligence before committing their resources to such platforms,” Olukoyede said.
He also stressed that the body remains committed to fishing out the culprits and recovering the lost funds.
“It was only when the bubble burst that people wanted EFCC to perform magic and recover their money. In the case we investigated in Lagos, which we dubbed Operation Flush, we arrested a large number of foreigners involved in various cybercrimes, including CBEX. I want Nigerians to know that as of today, we have secured close to 150 convictions. Some of them are already serving their jail terms. And when they are through with that, we are going to send them back to where they came from. So we are monitoring them,” he added.
He urged the public to stay vigilant, assuring them that the body will see the case to the end.
“We are no longer the EFCC that drops cases halfway. Whatever we start, we will finish. Nigerians should trust us and believe in our capacity to do justice. Some of these cases are complex and may require cross-border investigations, but we are up to the task,” he said.
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