Visa has launched Visa Pay in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a new mobile-first service designed to connect both banked and unbanked users to digital payments. Announced in Kinshasa on September 5, the service aims to enable consumers and businesses to pay, receive funds, and transfer money across banks and mobile networks.

• Eight participating institutions, with five banks (Access Banque, FBN, Sofibanque, Solidaire Banque, and UBA) available at launch.
• Sophie Kafuti, General Manager for DRC at Visa, noted the goal is to "scale digital payments in the country" and foster financial inclusion.
• Visa Pay offers near real-time account-to-account transfers in both CDF and USD, cash-in/cash-out options, and virtual cards for online payments.