For decades, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ranked among Africa’s most cash-dependent economies, constrained by low banking penetration, limited electronic payment acceptance, and fragmented financial infrastructure.
Today, that picture is gradually changing, driven less by single-company innovation than by strategic partnerships that are reshaping how money moves across the country.
“Scaling a national payments network in a market with rising mobile adoption, growing merchant digitisation, and increasing transaction volumes required deep technical expertise, resilient systems, and proven security architecture.”
At the heart of this shift is MultiPay DRC, a domestic payments switch that entered the market in 2015 with an ambition to unify payment rails, connect banks, and create a secure, interoperable electronic transactions network.
With a population exceeding 100 million and an economy dominated by cash transactions at the time, the scale of the challenge was significant. But so too was the opportunity.
Early progress made clear that infrastructure alone would not be enough. Scaling a national payments network in a market with rising mobile adoption, growing merchant digitisation, and increasing transaction volumes required deep technical expertise, resilient systems, and proven security architecture. That need set the stage for MultiPay’s partnership with Interswitch, a pan-African payments technology company with more than two decades of experience across multiple markets.
Through the partnership, Interswitch provides switching technology, security frameworks, and backend infrastructure that support parts of MultiPay’s operations.
The result has been improved system reliability, faster transaction processing, enhanced fraud controls, and broader acceptance across ATM and point-of-sale (POS) networks. These gains have strengthened trust in electronic payments among banks, merchants, and consumers, an essential factor in shifting behaviour away from cash.
The impact extends beyond technical performance. Interoperable ATM and POS networks have widened access to digital payments for individuals and small businesses, while merchants, from large retail chains to informal traders, are increasingly able to accept electronic payments with confidence. Improved transaction transparency has also supported a more efficient and accountable financial system.
These private-sector efforts align closely with public policy goals. The DRC government’s push to digitise microfinance institutions and cooperatives, alongside the nationwide deployment of POS terminals, builds on the interoperable infrastructure established by MultiPay. Banks, in turn, are leveraging this backbone to roll out more reliable and innovative digital services to customers previously excluded from formal finance.
As the DRC’s payments ecosystem evolves, the role of partnerships is becoming more pronounced. Growth in digital commerce, deeper integration of mobile and card payments, and the emergence of cross-border transaction capabilities all place new demands on infrastructure and security.
Meeting those demands increasingly depends on collaboration between local operators with market insight and technology partners with continental scale.
For MultiPay, its 10-year milestone underscores how collaboration has accelerated progress in a complex market. For Interswitch, the partnership reflects a broader strategy of enabling national payment systems across Africa through scalable technology and security-led design.
Together, their experience in the DRC illustrates a wider trend across emerging markets: the shift from cash to digital payments is not being driven by standalone platforms but by ecosystems built on shared capability. In a country where financial inclusion remains a work in progress, that model is proving central to the next phase of digital transformation.
