Can You Pay for Software with Mobile Money?

Key takeaways

• A few services take mobile money directly: Canva's daily and weekly passes in Kenya (M-Pesa), Google Play in Kenya (M-Pesa) and Ghana (MTN MoMo), and local software that uses Paystack or Flutterwave checkout.
• Most global software doesn't. ChatGPT, Claude, Notion and the rest want a card.
• The workaround is a virtual card funded by mobile money. M-Pesa GlobalPay is built into the M-Pesa app in Kenya. Airtel Money has a Mastercard virtual card in Uganda, Zambia and Tanzania. MTN has launched a MoMo card in markets including Uganda and Cameroon.
• Direct mobile money payments are usually one-off, not recurring. For monthly subscriptions, a mobile-money-funded card is more practical.
• Apple's App Store doesn't accept M-Pesa, according to EverTry.

Yes, you can pay for software with mobile money, but usually not directly. A handful of services, like Canva in Kenya and Google Play in Kenya and Ghana, let you pay with your mobile money PIN at checkout. For everything else, you use a virtual Visa or Mastercard linked to your mobile money wallet, like M-Pesa GlobalPay in Kenya, and the money still comes from your wallet.

Where can you pay with mobile money directly?

These are the places we found that take mobile money at checkout, with no card involved.

Service	Mobile money	Country	Catch
Canva Pro	M-Pesa	Kenya	Daily and weekly passes only; no auto-renewal
Canva Pro	Bank transfer (not mobile money)	Nigeria	Daily and weekly passes only
Google Play	M-Pesa	Kenya	Available since 2018
Google Play	MTN MoMo	Ghana	Available since 2018
Local software using Paystack or Flutterwave	M-Pesa, MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash, AT Money and others	Kenya, Ghana and others	Depends on the seller enabling it

Canva is the standout global example. Its help centre says Kenyans can pay with M-Pesa for daily or weekly Pro plans, approving the payment with their PIN, but adds that "M-Pesa is not available for recurring payments at this time". Our Canva and M-Pesa guide has the steps.

Google Play is the other big one. If an app sells subscriptions through Google Play, Android users in Kenya can pay with M-Pesa and users in Ghana with MTN MoMo. That covers in-app subscriptions for many tools, including ChatGPT and Claude on Android, though app store prices can differ from web prices. We couldn't confirm that mobile money works for every in-app subscription renewal, so check before relying on it.

Local software is often the easiest. Ghanaian and Kenyan tools that use Paystack or Flutterwave at checkout can accept mobile money directly, because both gateways support it in those countries.

How do you pay everything else with mobile money?

Use a virtual card funded by mobile money. It's a Visa or Mastercard number that draws from, or is topped up from, your mobile money wallet. To the software company, it's just a card.

Mobile money operators' own cards

These come from the operator itself, inside the app you already use.

Card	Network	Where it's live	Notes
M-Pesa GlobalPay	Visa	Kenya	In the M-Pesa app or *334#; draws directly from your M-Pesa balance
Airtel Money Global Pay Card	Mastercard	Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania	Kenya, DRC and Gabon planned
MTN MoMo card	Mastercard	Uganda, Cameroon and others	Announced for 13 MTN markets in 2024

M-Pesa GlobalPay is the most established. Safaricom launched it with Visa in 2022, and it works on sites like ChatGPT and Claude. Business Daily reported a 3.5% forex fee at launch. Our Kenya ChatGPT and Claude guide walks through setting it up.

Airtel Money's Mastercard virtual card launched in Uganda in 2025, according to African Wireless Communications, and you generate it in the Airtel Money app or by USSD. TechTrendsKE reported in October 2026 that it's also live in Zambia and Tanzania, with Kenya planned but no launch date yet.

MTN's MoMo card was announced with Mastercard in March 2024 for 13 markets, including Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and South Africa, according to Connecting Africa. Rollout has been country by country. Our earlier research found it live in Uganda (February 2025) and Cameroon (December 2025), but we couldn't confirm a launch in Ghana. Check the MoMo app to see whether it's available to you.

Fintech cards you top up with mobile money

If your operator doesn't offer a card, a fintech virtual dollar card topped up from mobile money does the same job:

• Eversend: top up from mobile money for 2.5% in Ghana or 0.6% in Kenya. The card costs $2.99 once, and payments to non-US merchants cost 3.5% + $0.50.
• Chipper Cash: in Ghana, its USD card costs $5 to create, $1 a month and $0.10 per payment.

Our country guides compare these: Ghana virtual cards and Kenya virtual cards.

What about Apple's App Store?

Apple is the awkward one. EverTry's September 2026 guide says M-Pesa isn't a supported Apple ID payment method in Kenya. It lists carrier billing in some countries, such as MTN carrier billing for Apple Music in Nigeria, but that pays from airtime, not mobile money, and it doesn't cover App Store subscriptions generally.

On an iPhone, the practical route is a card: M-Pesa GlobalPay, a MoMo or Airtel Money card, or a fintech virtual card.

Direct payments vs mobile money cards: which is better?

Direct mobile money (like Canva's M-Pesa passes) is simple and needs no card, but it's usually one-off. You pay again each time.

Mobile money cards handle monthly renewals automatically, just like a bank card. That's what you need for ChatGPT, Claude, Notion or any monthly subscription. The trade-off is fees, and the risk of a failed renewal if your wallet is empty on renewal day.

A few things to watch with cards:

• Keep enough in your wallet for the price plus tax and fees on renewal day.
• Know how to stop renewals. On M-Pesa GlobalPay, you need to turn off Repeat Payments in the app and cancel the subscription on the website.
• Watch decline fees on fintech cards. Eversend charges $0.40 for a failed payment.
• In Ghana, banks have been adding a 20% tax to foreign digital services paid by Ghana-issued cards since 15 October 2026. It's unclear whether that applies to mobile-money-funded fintech cards.

Our explainer on whether virtual dollar cards are safe covers the risks in more detail.

The best route by country

• Kenya: M-Pesa GlobalPay for most subscriptions. Use M-Pesa directly for Canva passes and Google Play. Eversend is a cheaper card alternative for US-based services, with a 0.6% top-up from mobile money.
• Ghana: a MoMo-funded virtual card (Chipper Cash or Eversend) for global software, Google Play with MTN MoMo for Android apps, and local tools that take MoMo through Paystack. Check whether MTN's own MoMo card has reached you. See our Ghana MoMo software guide.
• Uganda: the Airtel Money or MTN MoMo virtual card, both Mastercard.
• Rwanda: MTN announced the MoMo card for Rwanda in 2024, but we couldn't confirm it's live. A fintech card is the safer bet for now.
• Nigeria: mobile money is less central than bank transfers. Canva takes bank transfer for its daily and weekly passes, but for most software you'll need a virtual dollar card. See our Nigeria virtual card guide.