How mobile money interoperability works
How wallets, banks and national switches connect: the models, what happens to one payment from end to end, how settlement works, and what it means for your launch.
Customers no longer accept a wallet that only pays people on the same network. Regulators across Africa now push, and often require, wallets to connect to each other and to banks. This paper explains the models, walks through one payment, and lists what to settle, reconcile and test before you connect.
Written for
Product, technology and finance leads at e-money issuers, banks and fintechs that must connect to other wallets, banks or a national switch.
Key takeaways
- Interoperability covers four things: wallet to wallet, wallet to bank, merchant payments and, in some markets, cash-out at another provider's agent.
- A national switch is now the common model: one connection reaches every participant.
- Every cross-network payment has a name check, a debit, a credit and a confirmation; the hard part is the payment that times out in between.
- Settlement between providers happens later than the customer's payment. Your books must show what you owe and what you are owed at any moment.
- Treat reconciliation breaks and disputes between providers as a daily process, not an exception.
What's inside
- 1. What interoperability means
- 2. Three ways to connect
- 3. One payment, step by step
- 4. Settlement: who pays whom, and when
- 5. Fees and pricing
- 6. Standards worth following
- 7. The daily operations nobody plans for
- 8. How PesaBridge handles interoperability
- Before you connect
This paper is general guidance, not legal advice. Scheme rules, fees and settlement arrangements differ by country and change over time; confirm them with the switch operator, your regulator and legal counsel.
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Read the summary关于渠道与互联互通的问题
为什么仍要提供 USSD？
USSD 可在任何手机上使用，无需数据流量，功能机用户也能转账、付款和查询余额。
互联互通对钱包意味着什么？
客户可以通过国家交换平台或直连，向其他钱包和银行账户转账，而不仅限于同一网络内部。
USSD 与应用内付款使用同一个账本吗？
是的。所有渠道都记入同一账本，因此无论在应用、USSD 还是代理处完成，付款的显示方式都相同。
接入渠道
无论客户如何支付，皆能触达。
一套钱包接入矩阵，按用户类别——消费者、代理或商户——跨每个渠道自由配置。
通道与集成
只接入您市场所需。
通道皆为共用同一接口的可插拔适配器——收款、放款、余额与回调——因此新连接器绝不触及核心。
银行
RTGS / ACH / SWIFT / SEPA 结算与往来账户管理。
移动货币
各个市场的移动货币运营商，通过通道适配器接入。
卡组织与支付服务商
主要卡组织网络的收单与处理机构集成。
账单机构与电信
水电、电视、政府、学费与话费充值。
平台
钱包所需的一切——一套核心，您的品牌。
既有人人喜爱的消费级应用体验，又有专业金融平台的广度，还有一套无需编码即可运营全部功能的 SaaS 管理后台。