What Smobilpay does

Smobilpay is a digital payment aggregation and financial services platform serving the six countries of the CEMAC region — Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Operated by Maviance Cameroon PLC, a subsidiary of Germany-incorporated Maviance PLC, the platform was launched in Cameroon in 2013 and uses a centralized API and real-time reconciliation engine to connect billers, enterprises, developers, and a network of 5,000-6,000 trained and certified third-party agents (banks, microfinance institutions, supermarkets, kiosks, petrol stations, pharmacies). Technical features include a bulk payment system capable of processing up to 1,000 transactions in a single operation, real-time reconciliation with service providers, API and plugin integration for e-commerce platforms (WordPress, Magento, OpenCart, PrestaShop), and a dedicated microfinance 'Daily Collection' module for field-agent oversight. The platform is integrated with GIMAC, the interoperability switch operated by BEAC (Bank of Central African States), enabling cross-border digital service aggregation across CEMAC.

The company generates revenue primarily through transaction fees and commissions: agents earn a per-transaction share for distributing services, and billers (including marquee customers ENEO, CamWater, MTN, Orange, Canal+, StarTimes, CamCCUL, and others) pay for access to the agent distribution network. Enterprise bulk payment and payroll-disbursement services form a second revenue stream. Pricing is quote-based for enterprise customers, with no subscription fees for agents or end customers. The go-to-market blends channel-partner distribution (the agent network), enterprise sales (long-cycle contracts with major billers such as ENEO, reportedly taking nearly three years to close), and product-led onboarding for developers via self-service APIs and plugins.

Smobilpay reports serving 500,000+ unique customers monthly through its platform. Founded by Jerry Cheambe and Michael Flach in 2012 (with the Smobilpay product launched in Cameroon in 2013) and led by CEO Nkwenti Azong-Wara, the company raised a USD 3 million seed round from MFS Africa in May 2021 to fund CEMAC-wide expansion and a further USD 500,000 from Africa Venture Labs in 2025. Beyond biller integrations, the company has built supply-side depth into microfinance (100+ MFI customers via CamCCUL) and agent banking services, positioning itself as a multi-sided digital finance infrastructure layer for the Central African market.

Name

Smobilpay

Legal name

Maviance Cameroon PLC

Website

https://smobilpay.cm

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Smobilpay is a CEMAC-region digital payment aggregator that connects billers, enterprises, and developers through 5,000+ trained agents, enabling bill payments, bulk disbursements, mobile money, and microfinance collection digitization across six Central African countries via the GIMAC/BEAC interoperability switch.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Payment Aggregation Platform

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Merchant Services Aggregators & SMB Acquirers (FSAMABAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

POS, SoftPOS & In-Person Acceptance Infrastructure (FSAGABAO), Payroll, Contractor Payments & SME HR Finance (FSAGAJAI), A2A Payment Initiation Service Providers (PISPs) (FSAMAFAB)

Keywords

• Digital payment aggregation
• Bill payment platform
• Mobile money integration
• Bulk payment services
• Agent banking network

Headquarters

HQ city

Douala

HQ country

Cameroon

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Transaction Fees: Smobilpay earns commission on each transaction processed through its platform. Agents earn commission on transactions by connecting customers to telecom and service providers. Billers pay for access to the agent distribution network.
2. Bulk Payment Services: Revenue from facilitating bulk payments for enterprises including salary disbursements, payroll transfers, and bulk account transfers. Both immediate and future-dated bulk payment options available.
3. Agent Network Revenue Share: Agents/distributors earn revenue from transaction service fees when selling services to customers. Smobilpay provides infrastructure while agents provide physical distribution points.
4. Bill Aggregation Services: Service providers (ENEO, CamWater, MTN, Orange, Canal+) pay for aggregation services that provide access to the Smobilpay agent network for distributing their products and collecting payments.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Smobilpay is a digital payment aggregation platform that enables enterprises, billers, developers, and agents to process digital financial transactions including bill payments, bulk payments, mobile money transfers, and collections. The platform connects service providers (utilities, telecoms, Pay-TV, insurance, MFIs) to a network of 5,000+ trained agents and end users across the CEMAC region, offering APIs, e-commerce plugins, and a mobile/web application with real-time reconciliation.

Product overview

Smobilpay is a digital financial services platform and ecosystem of independent services developed by Maviance. The core Smobilpay Platform serves as the central hub connecting enterprises, billers, developers, and agents/distributors. Key modules include Smobilpay for Enterprises (bulk payment services), Smobilpay for Developers (API and e-commerce plugins for WordPress, Magento, OpenCart, PrestaShop), Smobilpay for Billers (digitized payment distribution via 5,000+ agents), Smobilpay for Agents/Distributors (multi-channel financial service offering), Smobilpay for Daily Collection (microfinance solution), and Add-ons for custom tailored solutions. The GIMAC partnership enables cross-border interoperability across the CEMAC region. The platform enables digital one-stop-shop services including bill payment, airtime, Pay-TV subscription, mobile money top-up, and withdrawals through third-party agents and collectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Smobilpay Platform A digital financial services platform providing a single interface for bill payments, bulk payments, collections, and agent banking services across the CEMAC region for enterprises, billers, developers, and agents/distributors.
• Smobilpay for Enterprises (Bulk Payment Services) Enterprise solution for secure digital collection of payments and disbursement to multiple beneficiaries from a single account, supporting up to 1,000 transactions per click with real-time reconciliation; includes Domestic Bill Bulk Payments and Bulk Inter-Account Transfers for salary and payroll.
• Smobilpay for Developers (API and E-commerce Plugins) Standard API plus e-commerce plugins (WordPress, Magento, OpenCart, PrestaShop) that let websites and applications accept mobile money and other digital payments quickly and securely.
• Smobilpay for Daily Collection (Microfinance Module) Module for microfinance institutions delivering real-time visibility of daily collector activities, eliminating double data entry, providing instant reconciliation, and enabling remote blocking of non-compliant agent accounts.
• Smobilpay Add-ons (Custom Solutions) Customized flexible services for businesses facing unique digital financial challenges, providing tailored solutions to fit specific business needs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 1,000 transactions processed in a single bulk payment operation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• CamCCUL (Cameroon Cooperative Credit Union League)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 July 2020CamCCUL partnered with Maviance to deploy Smobilpay for Daily Savings, enabling CamCCUL's nationwide microfinance network to digitize daily collection operations. Field agents now have real-time visibility into transactions, instant reconciliation, and SMS confirmations for clients, mitigating fraud and enhancing transparency.
• GIMAC (Groupement Interbancaire Monétique de l'Afrique Centrale)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSmobilpay partnered with GIMAC, the interoperability switch of BEAC (Bank of Central African States), to provide digital service aggregation across the CEMAC region. This partnership enables businesses and corporations to expand digital services throughout the six states of Central Africa. Smobilpay acts as the digital payment aggregator for GIMAC.
• ENEO Cameroon SAmajorTechnology or IntegrationENEO (national electricity provider) is a key service provider on the Smobilpay platform. Smobilpay enables electricity bill payments that sync 100% directly with ENEO's system, eliminating issues of bills returning as unpaid. This was Smobilpay's first major enterprise contract after nearly three years of persistence.
• CamWatermajorTechnology or IntegrationCamWater (national water utility) partners with Smobilpay for bill payment aggregation, enabling water bill payments through the agent network across the CEMAC region.
• MTNmajorTechnology or IntegrationMTN mobile money integration enables airtime purchases, mobile money top-up, and withdrawals through the Smobilpay agent network.
• OrangemajorTechnology or IntegrationOrange Money integration enables communication credit transfers, mobile money transfers, and related financial services through the Smobilpay platform.
• Canal+majorTechnology or IntegrationCanal+ Pay-TV subscription payments are available through Smobilpay's agent network, enabling subscribers to pay for services at physical points of sale.
• StarTimesmajorTechnology or IntegrationStarTimes Pay-TV subscriptions are distributed through over 5,000 Smobilpay points of sale across all 10 regions of Cameroon. Maviance via Smobilpay enables StarTimes to achieve its vision of enabling African families to subscribe to digital television through convenient payment options.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Flutterwave: Pan-African payment aggregator offering APIs for bill payment, bulk transfers and mobile money across multiple African markets — directly comparable to Smobilpay's biller aggregation and developer modules.
• Cellulant: Pan-African payment platform providing a single API for bill payments, collections and disbursements to banks, telcos and merchants across 35+ countries — highly comparable aggregator model.
• Paystack: Nigeria-founded payment gateway offering APIs and plugins for online merchants to accept multiple payment methods including mobile money — directly comparable developer/API-first bill payment stack.
• DPO Group: Pan-African payment service provider offering multi-currency processing, online payments and bulk disbursements across 20+ African markets — comparable aggregator and merchant acquiring stack.
• MFS Africa (Onafriq): Africa's largest digital payments hub connecting 320M+ mobile money wallets; strategic investor in Smobilpay and the most direct comparable in cross-border payment aggregation across sub-Saharan Africa.

Broad incumbents

• Network International: Leading Africa and Middle East payment processor providing merchant acquiring, processing and value-added services; broad incumbent with overlapping payment orchestration capabilities.
• Interswitch: Nigeria-headquartered digital payments powerhouse spanning card processing, switching and bill aggregation; broader incumbent with overlapping payment aggregation capabilities in Africa.

Emerging players

• JUMO: Mobile-first financial services platform targeting underbanked consumers and SMEs across African markets, with overlapping MSME and merchant payment distribution use cases.

Others

• Africa Venture Labs: Africa-focused investor and venture builder that participated in Smobilpay's latest funding round; included as a relevant ecosystem participant and capital partner for African fintech operators like Smobilpay.

Regional players

• Paga: Nigeria-focused multi-channel payment platform enabling bill payment, airtime and bulk transfers via agents, kiosks and APIs — directly comparable agent-based bill aggregation model in a neighboring regional market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Smobilpay