When the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) began taking early steps toward modernising its financial ecosystem in the early 2010s, the path ahead was anything but certain. The country’s economy was overwhelmingly cash-driven, access to formal financial services was low, and electronic payment infrastructure was either absent or highly fragmented. It was a landscape defined by gaps but rich with untapped potential for the right innovators, bold enough to step forward.
MultiPay DRC emerged as one of such pioneers, and this year marks a decade of the company’s remarkable journey, one that has transformed the contours of digital payments in the DRC and contributed meaningfully to the nation’s shift towards a more inclusive and modern financial system.
Before MultiPay’s entry into the ecosystem, the DRC’s payments environment was characterised by low financial inclusion and a heavy reliance on cash. Even with the introduction of mobile banking regulations in 2012, which opened the door for e-money services and mobile financial platforms, the infrastructure needed to support electronic payments remained minimal.
Interoperability between banks was limited, ATM and POS networks were isolated, and consumers had few options for conducting secure non-cash transactions. For a country of more than 90 million people, this represented both a significant challenge and an extraordinary opportunity.
In 2015, MultiPay DRC emerged as a transformational force with the introduction of the Multipay interbank service. Backed by four leading banks, BCDC (now EquityBCDC), Equity Bank Congo, FirstBank DRC, and Rawbank, MultiPay launched the country’s first local interbank electronic payment service, enabling customers to use their cards seamlessly across ATMs, POS terminals, and branch networks of participating banks.
For the first time, the DRC had a unified electronic payment backbone capable of linking banks and enabling customers to interact across previously segregated channels. This marked a turning point: the formalisation of a modern payment ecosystem had begun.
Over the past decade, MultiPay has evolved from a connectivity enabler into a critical payments infrastructure partner powering commerce, empowering consumers, and supporting banks in delivering more efficient, real-time financial services.
By enabling interoperable ATM and POS access, MultiPay has helped reduce the barriers that historically kept large segments of the population financially excluded. Citizens who once relied solely on cash could now perform transactions electronically, securely, reliably, and across multiple banking points.
As more merchants embraced MultiPay-enabled POS terminals, businesses gained the ability to accept digital payments, reduce cash-handling risks, and participate more actively in the formal economy. The ripple effect has been significant: greater economic transparency, increased transaction efficiency, and improved customer experience.
The DRC government’s recent push to digitise microfinance institutions and cooperative structures, including the deployment of thousands of digital payment terminals nationwide, aligns with MultiPay’s decade-long mission of expanding digital payments access and capability. In many ways, MultiPay’s early work laid the foundations upon which broader national financial inclusion programmes continue to build.
A major accelerator of MultiPay’s progress in recent years has been its strategic partnership with Interswitch, one of Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce companies. Through this collaboration, MultiPay has gained access to world-class processing technology, robust and industry-leading security frameworks, interoperable payment switching capabilities, and proven infrastructure deployed across Africa.
With Interswitch powering key parts of MultiPay’s backend and enabling stronger payment rails, MultiPay has been able to deliver faster, more secure, and more reliable services, meeting the rising expectations of banks, merchants, and customers. The collaboration has also positioned MultiPay to adopt new service enhancements, from digital payment innovations to extended acceptance capabilities, in line with global payment trends.
Together, both organisations share a unified vision: a digitally empowered DRC where payments are seamless, inclusive, and enable economic prosperity.
As MultiPay marks its 10th anniversary, the achievements of the past decade stand as a testament to what deliberate innovation and strong partnership can accomplish. Today, MultiPay is more than a payment processor. It is a national infrastructure enabler, a catalyst for financial inclusion, a partner to banks and merchants, and a key contributor to the rise of the DRC’s digital economy.
With Interswitch as a technology and innovation partner, the next decade promises even greater transformation. Opportunities ahead include expanded digital commerce capabilities, wider merchant acceptance, deeper mobile payment integration, cross-border payment enablement, and further support for underserved communities.
In a country poised for economic acceleration, MultiPay stands ready, equipped with the experience, partnerships, and vision required to lead the next phase of DRC’s payment revolution.
