Mukuru to make Botswana’s phones everyday payment wallets

Botswana has a phone in almost every hand, but millions of adults remain outside the formal banking system

The country has mobile penetration of about 166%, equivalent to roughly 4.2 million connections for a population of 2.5 million. Yet an estimated 38% of adults remain unbanked. 

Turning that connectivity into an account people can actually use to receive, store, and spend money is where Mukuru, a digital financial services and remittance company, believes its new Companion Card comes in.

Launched in Botswana in August, the Visa-branded card is linked directly to the Mukuru Wallet, allowing customers to spend their wallet balance at merchants without first transferring money into a traditional bank account. Customers can use it for groceries, transport, utilities, school fees and online purchases wherever Visa, the global digital payments network, is accepted.

For consumers who have traditionally received money through remittances or mobile wallets before cashing it out, the card removes a step: the money can remain digital and be spent directly.

Thembani Moyo, Country Manager for Mukuru Botswana, told TechCabal that the company is building on behaviour customers already understand.

“Our customers already trust the Mukuru Wallet to manage their money. The Companion Card gives them a new, practical way to use it,” he said. “So paying for groceries or topping up airtime is as easy as swiping a card, without ever needing to visit a branch or carry cash.”

In Botswana, mobile connectivity has outpaced formal banking access. Branch density, affordability, documentation, financial literacy, irregular incomes and a continued reliance on cash all help explain why having a phone has not automatically meant having a bank account.

Visa sees the same gap, but from the infrastructure…