News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Goodbye Visa and Mastercard: 130M Europeans switching to sovereign payment. Parent comment

Re:Goodbye Visa and Mastercard: 130M Europeans switching to ... by snovv_crash on Wednesday May 20, 2026 @12:45PM (#48210522)
In Africa they've had this since ~2005 with the Mpesa system. It basically transfers cellphone credits as payment. In certain regions everyone with a dumb phone was hooked up and you could do anything from buy a coconut from a guy on the side of the road to pay your taxi driver to pay at the supermarket.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Goodbye Visa and Mastercard: 130M Europeans switching to ... by throwaway2037 on Wednesday May 20, 2026 @01:05PM (#48210787)
Wow, this is a great reply! "In Africa" -> Can you share a few countries? Google tells me that East Africa is the biggest users: Kenya, Tanzania, etc. (No hate on the use of "In Africa here"... as Google tells me it is used in at least 10 different African countries.)
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Goodbye Visa and Mastercard: 130M Europeans switching to ... by snovv_crash on Thursday May 21, 2026 @02:44AM (#48218776)
Anywhere that MTN (telecom provider) operates. East and southern Africa mostly.
[ Parent | on HN ]