Mastercard and Flowcart announced on 7 September 2026 a partnership that embeds card payments directly into social and messaging platforms, beginning with WhatsApp in Kenya. The collaboration enables consumers to discover products, place orders and complete payments without leaving a chat-based environment. The service will initially focus on Kenya before expanding into other African markets, including South Africa, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire.
A Chat-to-Pay Experience Within Existing Platforms
The agreement integrates Mastercard's payment network into Flowcart's AI-powered commerce orchestration platform. Merchants can offer payments through embedded links, QR codes or native checkout flows powered by Mastercard Gateway and its acquiring partners. This design removes the need for external websites, payment links outside the conversation, or traditional point-of-sale systems and applications.
Secure Payment Infrastructure and Tokenization
Mastercard Gateway enables merchants to simplify payment acceptance through a single connection while maintaining secure commerce experiences. Tokenized card credentials are stored to support frictionless repeat purchases within the chat environment. This infrastructure reduces checkout friction and can improve payment completion rates for social sellers and larger merchants, while also connecting with existing commerce systems.
Targeting Social Sellers and the Creator Economy
The initiative is positioned to support Kenya's growing creator economy and social commerce sector. It enables a complete chat-to-pay loop, from product discovery to repeat purchases, allowing social sellers to monetize their audiences directly within existing platforms. Tokenized card details provide secure and frictionless repeat purchasing, while merchants avoid relying on standalone websites or traditional point-of-sale infrastructure.
Meeting SME Demand for Simpler Payments
The service addresses a priority identified in Mastercard's 2026 SME Confidence Index. According to the research, 80 percent of Kenyan SMEs view simple, seamless and user-friendly payment methods as a top requirement for future growth. By embedding acceptance in familiar chat interfaces, the partnership aims to meet this demand and broaden digital payment access.
Planned Expansion Across Africa
Following the initial rollout in Kenya, Mastercard and Flowcart plan to expand the service across East Africa and into South Africa, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire. They noted that WhatsApp now accounts for more than 20 percent of online shopping orders in Kenya, surpassing traditional e-commerce websites. This shift reinforces the opportunity for conversational commerce in mobile-first markets.
Executive Perspectives on the Collaboration
Mastercard's senior vice president and country manager for East Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, Shehryar Ali, said social commerce is reshaping how consumers discover and engage with brands. He added that the collaboration embeds secure payments into these interactions, unlocking growth opportunities and expanding digital acceptance. Flowcart founder Ananth Gudipati described the effort as a transformation in how businesses transact through social channels, from independent sellers to large enterprises.
Driving Financial Inclusion Across the Digital Ecosystem
The partnership brings together acquirers, fintechs, mobile network operators and commerce platforms to digitize informal and creator-led commerce. It positions social and messaging platforms as dependable end-to-end channels for digital payments and long-term customer growth. The collaboration also aims to support underserved and informal segments by expanding acceptance beyond traditional retail environments.
By combining Flowcart's AI-powered commerce capabilities with Mastercard's global payment network, the two companies are advancing a model where payments become a native part of customer engagement. The initial rollout in Kenya provides a practical testbed for chat-based card acceptance before wider African expansion. If successful, the initiative could accelerate financial inclusion and reshape digital commerce for social sellers, small businesses and larger brands across the region.