Tola Mobile
Tola Mobile is a payment infrastructure company that provides a single API to connect merchants and platforms to 60+ mobile money operators and payment methods across 24 African markets, serving iGaming, fintech, marketplace, and e-commerce customers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersBirmingham, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Tola Mobile does
Tola Mobile is a payment infrastructure company that provides a unified API platform connecting merchants and platforms to mobile money operators and local payment methods across Africa. The company operates in 24 African markets with 60+ payment integrations covering major operators including MTN, Airtel, Safaricom M-Pesa, Vodacom, Orange, Wave, Ecocash, Telebirr, and Tigo, and has processed more than 3 billion transactions representing over $2 billion in transaction value since inception. The platform's product portfolio comprises three core modules — Collect Payments (accepting mobile money, cards, and payment links/QR codes), Send Payouts (bulk disbursements with approval workflows and recovery), and Orchestrate & Control (transaction routing, multi-way reconciliation, consolidated reporting, and real-time drill-down) — supported by a 99.9% uptime commitment and centralized oversight portal.
The company was formed in 2015 as part of a larger Group and became independent in early 2022 via a management buyout funded by a consortium of investors. It is headquartered in Birmingham, United Kingdom, with a core technology team based in Dublin, Ireland, and in-region presence throughout Africa. The senior management team averages 25-30 years of IT and telecoms experience. Customer segmentation is heavily oriented toward iGaming and sportsbook operators, with fintechs, marketplaces, e-commerce, insurance, and transport/logistics identified as additional verticals. Distribution combines direct enterprise sales with developer-facing self-serve API documentation.
Tola generates revenue through transaction processing fees on mobile money and card payment flows routed through its platform. Specific fee structures are not publicly disclosed and pricing is quote-based. Recent strategic actions include the launch of card payment acceptance in December 2025 and the addition of Lesotho as its 24th live market in April 2026, alongside active event marketing at iGaming and fintech conferences such as SiGMA Africa 2025.
Tola Mobile firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Tola Mobile
- Legal name
- Tola Mobile Ltd
- Website
- https://tolamobile.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Tola Mobile is a payment infrastructure company that provides a single API to connect merchants and platforms to 60+ mobile money operators and payment methods across 24 African markets, serving iGaming, fintech, marketplace, and e-commerce customers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Tola Mobile industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Mobile Money Payment Infrastructure
- NAICS
- Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Merchant-of-Record (MoR) & Payment Facilitation (PayFac) Infrastructure (FSAGABAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) & Local Rails (ACH/SEPA/UPI, etc.) (CRAFALAG), Marketplace / Platform Acquiring (PayFac & Sub-Merchant Management) (FSAMABAF), Merchant Cross-Border Collections (Pay-ins) & Local Payment Methods (FSAGAKAD)
Keywords
Where Tola Mobile is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Birmingham
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Tola Mobile business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Transaction Processing Fees: Tola Mobile charges transaction fees for processing mobile money and card payments through its platform. The company processes over $2 billion in transaction volume, generating revenue based on transaction value and count across its 60+ payment integrations in 24 African markets.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels7 records
Tola Mobile product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Tola Mobile is a payments infrastructure platform that connects merchants and platforms to mobile money operators, cards, and local payment methods across 24 African markets through a single API integration. The platform enables merchants to accept payments (Collect Payments), make bulk disbursements (Send Payouts), and manage routing, reconciliation, and reporting (Orchestrate & Control) across fragmented African payment rails without building country-specific integrations.
Product overview
Tola Mobile is a payments infrastructure platform for Africa, offering a unified platform that connects merchants and platforms to mobile money operators and local payment methods through a single API integration. The core product portfolio consists of three main services: Collect Payments (accepting mobile money, cards, and other payment methods through single integration with payment links and QR codes), Send Payouts (bulk disbursements and outbound payments with recovery workflows), and Orchestrate & Control (routing, multi-way reconciliation, reporting, and real-time transaction visibility). Supporting features include Consolidated Reporting, Reliable Transaction Processing with 99.9% uptime, and Payouts with Operational Control including automated approvals and duplicate protection. The platform operates across 24 African markets with 60+ payment integrations, processing over 3 billion transactions totaling $2+ billion in volume.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Collect Payments Acceptance product that lets merchants take mobile money, cards, and other supported African payment methods through a single integration and seamless checkout, with the ability to build payment links and QR codes that can be distributed to consumers at scale. Built for fintechs, platforms, and global businesses expanding into or across Africa.
- Send Payouts Disbursement product that enables merchants to make and manage bulk outbound payments at scale, with operational controls, approvals, scheduled batch payments, and duplicate payment protection, plus automated workflows to recover failed payments and ensure accurate reconciliation.
- Orchestrate & Control Orchestration and control product that provides a single secure platform to manage transaction routing, multi-way reconciliation, top-level reporting, and real-time transaction drill-down visibility across all markets and deployments.
Quantifiable outcome
- Process 3+ billion transactions and $2+ billion in transaction volume
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Tola Mobile
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Tola Mobile technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration24 records
Feature8 records
Tola Mobile partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- MTNcoreMTN mobile money integration through Tola's unified platform. MTN is one of Africa's largest mobile operators with mobile money services (MTN MoMo) available across multiple markets including Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, Cameroon, and others. Tola connects merchants to MTN's mobile money APIs for collections and payouts.
- Airtel AfricacoreAirtel mobile money integration (Airtel Money, AirtelTigo) through Tola's platform. Airtel Africa operates in 14 markets across sub-Saharan Africa with mobile money services. Tola enables merchants to accept Airtel Money payments and process disbursements.
- Safaricom (M-Pesa)coreM-Pesa integration via Safaricom in Kenya and other M-Pesa operating markets. M-Pesa is the largest mobile money service in Africa by transaction volume. Tola connects merchants to M-Pesa for payment acceptance and disbursements.
- VodacomcoreVodacom M-Pesa integration in Tanzania, DRC, Mozambique, and South Africa. Vodacom is a major African telecom operator with significant mobile money penetration. Tola provides API access to Vodacom's M-Pesa services.
- OrangecoreOrange Money integration across Orange's African markets (Senegal, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, etc.). Orange is a major telecom operator with extensive mobile money coverage in Francophone Africa.
- WavecoreWave mobile money integration (primarily Senegal and Burkina Faso). Wave is a rapidly growing mobile money operator in West Africa known for low-cost transfers. Tola enables merchant access to Wave payments.
- EcocashcoreEcocash integration primarily in Zimbabwe. Ecocash is the dominant mobile money platform in Zimbabwe with millions of users. Tola connects merchants to Ecocash for payment processing.
- ZamtelcoreZamtel mobile money integration in Zambia. Zamtel is Zambia's national telecom operator with mobile money services. Tola provides integration access for merchants operating in Zambia.
- TelebirrcoreTelebirr integration in Ethiopia. Telebirr is Ethiopia's mobile money service operated by Ethio Telecom. Tola enables merchants to accept Telebirr payments in the Ethiopian market.
- TNMcoreTNM Mpamba integration in Malawi. TNM is a major telecom operator in Malawi with mobile money services. Tola provides API connectivity for TNM Mpamba payments.
- TigocoreTigo Pesa integration across Tigo's African markets. Tigo (now part of Millicom) operates mobile money services in Tanzania, Rwanda, and other markets. Tola enables merchant access to Tigo payments.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Tola Mobile competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa): Africa's largest mobile money aggregator, providing a hub for cross-border and domestic mobile money interoperability across hundreds of operators. Highly comparable in business model and target customers.
- Cellulant: Pan-African digital payments platform offering a single API to connect merchants to mobile money, banks, and cards across multiple African countries. Direct head-to-head competitor on payment orchestration, country coverage, and target verticals (including iGaming).
- DPO Group: Pan-African payment service provider enabling merchants to accept payments online via cards, mobile money, and bank transfers across numerous African countries with a unified gateway — directly comparable integration breadth and merchant value proposition.
- Thunes: Global cross-border payments network with strong mobile money coverage across Africa and emerging markets; comparable in connecting global merchants and platforms to African mobile money rails and in serving payouts.
Emerging players
- Chipper Cash: Africa-focused cross-border payments app enabling consumer remittances and merchant payments via mobile money and bank rails. Partial overlap on payout/collection flows into African mobile wallets.
- Verto (formerly Korapay): Cross-border payments platform providing businesses with payouts and collections into Africa and emerging markets, including mobile money rails. Comparable for the business-to-business cross-border flow component of Tola's offering.
Regional players
- Pesapal: East African payment gateway integrating mobile money (M-Pesa, Airtel Money, MTN) for merchants across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. Comparable on mobile money aggregation, but smaller geographic footprint.
Broad incumbents
- Interswitch: Largest Africa-focused electronic payments and commerce firm offering cards, mobile money, gateways, and broader fintech infrastructure. More diversified and larger, but overlaps with Tola in payment orchestration and merchant acquiring.
- Paystack (Stripe-owned): Nigerian-headquartered African payments gateway (now part of Stripe) enabling online merchants to accept payments across multiple African countries; comparable for merchants needing a single integration into African payment methods.
- Flutterwave: Pan-African payments technology company serving global merchants accepting payments across African countries via cards, mobile money, and bank transfers. Overlaps with Tola on merchant-facing payments API and African coverage.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Tola Mobile social profiles
Digital presenceTola Mobile financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Tola Mobile leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Tola Mobile funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Tola Mobile M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Tola Mobile
What does Tola Mobile do?
Tola Mobile is a payments infrastructure platform that connects merchants and platforms to mobile money operators, cards, and local payment methods across 24 African markets through a single API integration. The platform enables merchants to accept payments (Collect Payments), make bulk disbursements (Send Payouts), and manage routing, reconciliation, and reporting (Orchestrate & Control) across fragmented African payment rails without building country-specific integrations.
Is Tola Mobile a public or private company?
Tola Mobile is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Tola Mobile founded?
Tola Mobile was founded in 2015. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Tola Mobile based?
Tola Mobile is headquartered in Birmingham, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Tola Mobile make money?
One revenue line is on record: transaction Processing Fees.
Who are Tola Mobile's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa), Cellulant, DPO Group and Thunes. Emerging players are Chipper Cash and Verto (formerly Korapay). Pesapal is listed as a regional player. Broad incumbents are Interswitch, Paystack (Stripe-owned) and Flutterwave.
Does Tola Mobile have an API?
Yes. The Tola platform provides a simple API for applications to initiate payment methods and process transactions for businesses. Built for fintechs, platforms, and global businesses expanding into and across Africa. Supports operator connectivity, reporting and reconciliation, cross-market scalability, single API integration, collections and payouts, and payment orchestration. Developer documentation is at www.tolamobile.io.
What industry is Tola Mobile in?
Tola Mobile's product category is Mobile Money Payment Infrastructure. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAGABAE, Merchant-of-Record (MoR) & Payment Facilitation (PayFac) Infrastructure, with a secondary code of CRAFALAG, Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) & Local Rails (ACH/SEPA/UPI, etc.). Its NAICS code is 522320 and its SIC code is 7370.