TechPression

Tag: Mastercard

  • Ethswitch, Mastercard digitize Ethiopian payments

    Ethswitch, Mastercard digitize Ethiopian payments

    Mastercard Incorporated (MA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with EthSwitch, Ethiopia’s national payment switch. Under the terms of the agreement, EthSwitch will be able to utilise MA’s technology, expertise, collaborations, and cyber intelligence solutions.

    Through its partnership with Mastercard, EthSwitch will be able to help Ethiopians send and receive digital money transfers that are safe, fast, and easy. This will be possible by using the Mastercard Send platform, which has already shown its reliability by letting people send money quickly in more than 100 markets.

    Ethiopians will also benefit from the latest partnership because they will be able to get their money right away. The main goal of the partnership is still to increase popular digital remittances to Ethiopia and give more people in the country access to financial services.

     Read also: Copal, Mastercard introduce Egypt’s first mobile family payments app

    Mastercard advances by utilising EthSwitch

    Mastercard’s recent move shows how serious it is about digitising all over the world. Mastercard is working with EthSwitch to improve the way digital payments work in Ethiopia. EthSwitch, a local partner with deep roots in Ethiopia, will help Mastercard understand the market.

    Mastercard tends to have a big share of the digital payments market in Africa. This is because it has a strong presence as a leading and reliable payment solutions provider in Ethiopia. The continent’s digital economy continues to grow because more people are using the internet, the number of young people is growing quickly, and more people are using smartphones.

    In Ethiopia, which is one of the electronically connected East African countries, Mastercard has often teamed up with local banks, government agencies, and international groups. EthSwitch is one of the important partners that have helped MA become more well-known all over the country.

    In November 2022, EthSwitch also benefited from Mastercard. The latest move strengthens MA and EthSwitch’s alliance. EthSwitch enabled all Oromia Bank ATMs in Ethiopia to accept Mastercard debit, credit, and prepaid cards.

    Mastercard is a preferred option for financial institutions worldwide when it comes to implementing digitization across various markets because of its cutting-edge digital suite, which was built on partnerships and significant investments.

    This is part of Mastercard’s digitization efforts in Africa and the company’s aim to connect one billion people to the global digital economy by 2025.

    About Mastercard 

    The second-largest payment processor in the world is Mastercard Inc. (formerly MasterCard). Financial services are available. Its headquarters are in Purchase, NY. Its main business worldwide is processing payments between merchant banks and card-issuing banks or credit unions for customers who use Mastercard-branded debit, credit, and prepaid cards to make purchases. Since 2006, Mastercard has traded publicly.

    Mastercard was founded by an alliance of many banks and regional bankcard organisations in reaction to BankAmericard, which subsequently became Visa, its largest competitor. Before its IPO, Mastercard International was a cooperative owned by the more than 25,000 financial institutions that issued its cards.

  • Mastercard, Nigeria’s NowNow Partner To Boost Cybersecurity For SMEs

    Mastercard, Nigeria’s NowNow Partner To Boost Cybersecurity For SMEs

    Mastercard and Nigeria-based digital payment startup NowNow have begun a partnership aimed at supporting Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) in combating cyberattacks.

    The duo plan to achieve this by providing free materials to SMEs to help educate and intensify their cybersecurity ecosystem.

    The agreement between Mastercard and NowNow comes amid major rises in cybercrime in recent years. Figures supplied by the Nigerian Telecommunication Commission underscore this issue. According to the commission, Nigeria loses an estimated $500 million every year as a result of cybercrime.

    Businesses have frequently been discovered to be preferred targets for cybercriminals. They are targeted more frequently than larger organisations since they are less likely to have the resources to protect themselves. SMEs are also less likely to respond appropriately following breaches because they lack established mechanisms for doing so.
    With regular web application penetration tests, NowNow tries to protect SMEs.

    Such assessments aim to verify that the applications of SMEs are not subject to cyber threats. The startup’s service is presently available in Nigeria and Angola, with hopes to expand into additional areas in the near future.

    NowNow is also the first African start-up to be accepted into the most recent Mastercard Start Path Global Program. The initiative is intended to assist later-stage entrepreneurs in their efforts to innovate and scale. The initiative provided operational support, commercial engagement, and the chance for strategic investment to NowNow.

    The collaboration also intends to improve access to the Mastercard Trust Centre for its partner Firms. Mastercard launched the centre to assist SMEs in addressing cybersecurity threats as part of its $250 million pledge to assist SMEs following the devastating effects of covid-19.

    Read also: Data Privacy and Protection receive more adoption in Africa

    Mastercard’s And NowNow’s Support For SMEs

    Paul Trueman is Mastercard’s executive vice president of product optimisation and customer advancement, cyber and intelligence.

    Mastercard’s executive vice president of product optimisation and customer advancement, cyber and intelligence is Paul Trueman.

    “As Mastercard brings the next billion people into the digital economy, it is vital that business owners feel as secure and safe from cybercrime as possible. Our partnership with NowNow is key to achieving this. Whether large or small, businesses deserve the peace of mind to operate knowing that they are being kept safe.”

    On his part, Sahir Berry, CEO of NowNow, explained the firm’s dedication to digitally easing financial payments.

    According to Berry, “Like Mastercard, NowNow is committed to driving financial and digital inclusion by creating an ecosystem that digitises payments and provides access to financial services for businesses, governments, and customers in rural and urban communities through simplified branchless banking initiatives.”
    “We are excited to partner with the Mastercard Trust Centre to help our customers improve the security of their cyber ecosystem and better protect themselves from cyber criminals.”

    About NowNow

    NowNow Digital Systems Limited was established in 2018 by Sahir Berry (CEO) and Mahesh Nair (COO). Sahir was previously the Managing Director of Sportwagen Performance New Delhi. Mahesh has over 15 years of diverse worldwide experience, with prior stints at Airtel and Vodacom and competence in handling high revenue producing business throughout African and Indian markets.

    NowNow is an African B2B and B2C Digital Payments firm with the objective of providing world-class financial services to SMEs, Agents, and Consumers. It is developing the best technology in the world to digitise cash payments and create financial empowerment for Africans to live better lives.

    NowNow seeks to abolish the traditional banking experience by constructing an ecosystem that digitises payments and provides access to financial services for businesses, governments, and customers in rural and urban locations through simplified branchless banking efforts.

    Nigerian fintech, NowNow raises $13million seed funding to boost financial inclusion

    Mastercard Trust Center

    The Mastercard Trust Centre is a subsidiary of Mastercard. It assists SMEs in defending their essential assets, business, and reputation by giving online access to reputable cybersecurity research, tailored education, resources, and tools from trusted external sources and payment platforms.

    Understanding that each organisation has distinct needs, the Trust Centre offers a tailored approach, whether they are entrepreneurs learning about cybersecurity for the first time or business owners extending their expertise or mastering cybersecurity.

    Mastercard forms alliances with external firms such as NowNow, non-profit organisations, and governments to offer the Mastercard Trust Centre to the SME communities of its partners.

  • Copal, Mastercard introduce Egypt’s first mobile family payments app

    Copal, Mastercard introduce Egypt’s first mobile family payments app

    Cairo, Egypt Copal, Egypt’s first app for family-focused digital payment solutions, partners with Mastercard to offer Egypt’s first app for family payment and expense management. This method aims to expand financial inclusion by bringing unbanked youth into the formal economy.

    Copal’s arrival in Egypt is intended to offer a cashless family experience. Copal, backed by Mastercard technology, lets parents manage payments for the whole family. Thus, parents and custodians can check and manage young family members’ accounts, keep allowances safe, restrict overspending, and ensure monies are available in emergencies.

    Additionally, the solution includes easy-to-use financial literacy tools that encourage the engagement of young people in the digital payment ecosystem. Young members of the family will gain financial and savings management skills, as well as community service.

    Adam Jones, country general manager for MENA Central at Mastercard, said, “At Mastercard, we harness technologies to modernize and offer innovative solutions that unlock the true potential of inclusive growth and bring more people into the digital economy.” “Our relationship with Copal reflects our commitment to expand the financial digital market in Egypt by providing our partners with the essential services and resources to transform daring ideas and achieve scale at pace.”

    Mastercard strengthens its fintech presence in Egypt with this cooperation, focusing on growth, knowledge sharing, and innovation. Copal will construct, launch, and expand by co-creating specific solutions and providing expertise.

    Read also: Mastercard, Xsolla partner to facilitate payments for video games commerce 

    Ahmed Refaat, Copal’s co-founder and CEO, said, “Copal’s vision is to fill the gap for the unbanked and underbanked through offering a product that is especially suited to fulfill their every need.” Refaat added, “We are happy to work with Mastercard, and we are convinced that, with their leadership and support, Copal will grow and expand as rapidly as we have ambitiously planned.”

    In February 2022, Copal was launched as a joint-stock  Fintech firm. Their objective to raise a financially savvy generation and introduce them to the cashless lifestyle is made possible by Flat6Labs Cairo’s financing. Copal plans to be completely onboard in Egypt and extend across Africa.

    What to know about MasterCard 

    Mastercard, a major player in the payments sector, is a multinational technology firm. Our goal is to make transactions secure, straightforward, intelligent, and accessible in order to link and fuel a global, inclusive digital economy that benefits everyone. Our innovations and solutions enable people, businesses, governments, and financial institutions to reach their full potential by utilizing secure data and networks, relationships, and enthusiasm. Everything we do, both inside and outside of our organization is guided by our decency quotient or DQ. With connections in over 210 nations and territories, we are creating a sustainable world that opens up precious opportunities for everyone.

    Prophius partners Mastercard to launch “PayContactless solution”

    About Copal


    Copal is a joint-stock financial technology business that is delighted to be a participant in the ecosystem of Egypt’s leading fintech cluster. Through the provision of cutting-edge and easily accessible payment solutions, it is our objective to foster the development of a new generation of people who are financially literate and to encourage people to live cashless lifestyles. Copal is committed to meeting the needs of unbanked and underbanked members of society by offering comprehensive financial services. Our primary objective is to broaden people’s access to digital financial services; by doing so, we hope to position ourselves as the go-to option for cashless transactions in Egypt and abroad. Establishing a foothold in Egypt is the first step in our ambitious goal to grow our business across the African continent.

  • Mastercard, Xsolla partner to facilitate payments for video games commerce 

    Mastercard, Xsolla partner to facilitate payments for video games commerce 

    Mastercard and Xsolla, a global company specialising in video game commerce, have formed a partnership to facilitate payments that are hassle-free, safe, and rewarding for gamers. 

    These improvements range from enhanced checkout experiences that make use of credit card loyalty points to simple in-game currency gifting, as well as improved creator payout processes and other areas.

    Through this partnership, Xsolla’s platform will be combined with the technology, network-level expertise, global scale, and trusted connections of Mastercard. The end result will be payment experiences that are more accessible and fully customizable for players, developers, and creators.

    Mastercard and Xsolla have agreed to collaborate on the development of innovative card and account-based solutions and services for the purpose of enhancing digital experiences for gamers in the realm of payments and beyond. 

    Pay with Points is a solution that will be integrated into Xsolla’s Pay Station product, and it will be available to Mastercard cardholders for the very first time.

    Read also: Netflix introduces in-game IDs for iOS and Android gamers

    This will allow cardholders to redeem their loyalty points for in-game purchases in a seamless manner, which will serve to launch this game-changing partnership. Additionally, players will have the ability to share an in-game currency with their close friends and family members. They also have the goal of resolving challenges faced by the gaming industry and placing a higher priority on protecting consumers. As part of this effort, the companies will use the authentication and fraud detection capabilities offered by Mastercard to provide parents with more control before their children make purchases with video games.

    Details Mastercard and Xsolla Partnership 

    Blake Rosenthal, Executive Vice President of Fintech Solutions at Mastercard, stated that the company is looking forward to further enabling cardholders to tap into their passions through this new partnership with Xsolla which is shaping the future of commerce in gaming. “Mastercard has been a strong supporter of the gaming community for many years,” Rosenthal said. “We look forward to further enabling cardholders to tap into their passions through this new partnership with Xsolla.” “As mobile devices make video games more accessible, it is necessary to create a gratifying, best-in-class digital experience in order to cultivate a dedicated gaming community and build a payments ecosystem that offers choice across a variety of platforms and dimensions.”

    “The partnership with Mastercard is a testament to our commitment to continuously innovate for the benefit of developers and all players around the world,” said Berkley Egenes, Chief Marketing Officer at Xsolla. “The partnership with Mastercard is a testament to our commitment to continuously innovate for the benefit of developers and all players around the world.”

     “We are able to establish new channels for revenue creation and enhanced lifetime value for developers by combining Xsolla’s Payments Solution with Mastercard’s loyalty capabilities, security solutions, and card and account-based payments technology. Xsolla’s Payments Solution was developed by Xsolla. We are thrilled to make such a significant advance toward our goal of providing a superior and more welcoming gaming environment for all of our customers.

    Later on in this year, players will have the opportunity to use loyalty points earned from participating Mastercard partners to pay for in-game purchases when making purchases.

    Africa is set to take over the global videogame business.

  • The Mastercard Foundation launches a $200 million Africa Growth Fund

    The Mastercard Foundation launches a $200 million Africa Growth Fund

    The Mastercard Foundation has established the $200 million Africa Growth Fund (MFAGF). For African businesses, MFAGF is a fund of funds that works through African investment vehicles to promote early-stage, growth-oriented SMEs on the continent.

    Along with funds for investment vehicles, the MFAGF will offer a business development facility for the companies in their portfolio.

    Gender-lens investing (GLI) will be used by the fund-of-funds initiative to help the Young Africa Works strategy of the Mastercard Foundation. This strategy aims to give 30 million African youth, especially young women, access to meaningful and respectable jobs by 2030. 

    The Fund-of-Funds has already hired two investment groups that help entrepreneurs grow, one in East Africa and one in West Africa.

    The fund of funds is risky and important because it helps bring in more money for African entrepreneurs by bolstering and lowering the risks of African investment vehicles that are working to make gender equality in entrepreneurship a reality.

    Read also: Mastercard and Meta Partner with Adobe for Digital Creative Solutions

    People often think of high-risk investment vehicles that are owned, run, and based in Africa. African SMEs struggle to get the funding they require to grow, which limits their potential.

    “The MFAGF has built up a promising pipeline of 180 diverse investment vehicles, including early-stage, growth, debt, and seed VC, as well as non-traditional funds,” explains Samuel Akyianu, MFAGF Chief of Staff and Managing Director. “Five have gone through our investment screening process, two female-led investment vehicles are past due diligence and received a favorable investment decision,” Akyianu added

    Akyianu says that the main goal is to make investments that have a positive, measurable effect on society and the environment and help build a stronger, more dynamic investment ecosystem in Africa. He said that the Fund-of-Funds is committed to keeping track of and sharing information about how well all investments are doing in terms of gender, diversity, inclusion, social impact, and environmental sustainability in order to give Africa’s young people good jobs.

    Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund Implementation

    The Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund is run by a group of collaborators that also includes Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P) and Entrepreneurial Solutions Partners (ESP), Genesis Analytics, the Criterion Institute, and Africa Communications Media Group. They collaborate to achieve the third overarching goal.

    I&P is in charge of locating, assessing, and supporting the investment vehicles as the Fund Advisor for the Fund of Funds.

    Prophius partners Mastercard to launch “PayContactless solution”

    About MasterCard Foundation 

    The Toronto, Ontario-based organization has funded projects in 49 nations. In 2018, the Mastercard Foundation changed its focus to focus on Africa through its Young Africa Works strategy specifically.

    The main goals of the foundation’s projects are to reduce economic and gender inequality, improve access to high-quality education, create more opportunities for decent work, and boost economic growth as a whole. Funding is mostly handled by bilateral allocations through postsecondary institutions, research institutes, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector, as well as multilateral allocations through organizations like the many United Nations agencies.

    Since its founding, the Mastercard Foundation has worked in 34 African countries, but as of 2019, it plans to concentrate its involvement more deeply in 10 countries on the continent. The foundation’s mission is to support young Africans in moving out of poverty through improved “access to education, financial services, and skills training.” As of 2018, the company said it had assets worth USD 17.4 billion and spent USD 298 million each year. It aspires to a world in which everyone can advance their education and succeed.

    In 2019, Reeta Roy, CEO of the Mastercard Foundation, said something at the presidential conference of the African Green Revolution Forum. “Our goal is clear. The goal is to reveal what is hidden. “To give young people the opportunity to generate respectable employment where none now exists.”

  • Mastercard and Meta Partner with Adobe for Digital Creative Solutions

    Mastercard and Meta Partner with Adobe for Digital Creative Solutions

    A software company, Adobe, has announced that it has entered into partnerships with Mastercard and Meta to support creativity and productivity for small and medium business (SMB) customers.

    The partnership is to create new automation and collaboration features across Adobe Creative Cloud and the Adobe product portfolio, helping small and mid-sized businesses modernize workflows while embracing new frontiers in creativity and productivity.

    The partnerships will provide SMBs with special access to Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Document Cloud (PDF and electronic signature solution). These were announced at the Adobe MAX conference, the company’s annual conference for creative works.

    Read also: Adobe acquires Figma in a $20 billion deal

    Adobe explained that its purpose for partnering with Meta is to offer a training programme tagged “Express Your Brand”, which provides free education and tools to SMBs to grow their presence and visibility online. This included granting annual Adobe Express premium subscriptions to 10,000 Black, Latinx and Hispanic-owned businesses.

    Through the Mastercard partnership, Mastercard BusinessCard and World Elite Mastercard for Business cardholders will get access to over 20 Adobe Creative Cloud applications like Acrobat Pro, Photoshop, Illustrator and Adobe Express.

    Claire Darley, Vice President, Digital Media GTM and Sales for Adobe, said, “Technology must help SMBs grow, not get in the way, millions of small businesses rely on Adobe technology, and our new innovations remove complexity, improve collaboration and automate repetitive tasks, so they can focus on creating customer-delighting digital experiences.”

    In the digital economy, with the help of technology, SMBs can get equipped to work faster and smarter than ever before. New Adobe research found that nearly 70% of SMBs now depend on digital solutions to do more with less amidst labour shortages, and 77% say ongoing uncertainty has compelled them to look for new ways to collaborate.

    New Adobe Capabilities

    With the development from the partnership, new features on Adobe Express empowers SMBs, including businesses run by Adobe Express Ambassadors Maia Faddoul, Katie Kortman, Nikki McWilliams and Nelly Ruthenbeck, enabling easy creation of impactful social media posts based upon thousands of beautiful templates, which can be customized within the app or accessed within Adobe Fonts for blank canvas testing.

    Content scheduling and color palette recommendations have been added, while new Adobe Acrobat integrations enable SMBs to design visually appealing cover pages, section dividers and more directly and easily within Acrobat.

    Another feature is the Share for Review (beta), which allows users to share a version-specific link to a Photoshop or Illustrator file, and then automatically flow reviewers’ comments back into the app, eliminating the need to juggle between different tools to address all feedback. Designers can now choose to co-edit a live file with Invite to Edit or share a specific version of a file with Share for Review.

    Also, AI powered by Adobe Sensei delivers new capabilities across Creative Cloud, simplifying and automating repetitive tasks in After Effects, Photoshop, InDesign, Substance 3D and more, enabling SMBs to efficiently and intuitively bring their ideas to life. Using Substance 3D, Australian architectural 3D rendering and animation company Binyan Studios is developing 3D assets for clients two to 10 times faster than ever before.

    Meta and Salesforce partner to provide WhatsApp customer service

    New Document Cloud Capabilities In SMBs Marketing

    Adobe also announced new capabilities for SMBs across Document Cloud and Experience Cloud, spanning applications including Acrobat, Commerce and Marketo Engage.
    Adobe Acrobat introduced free web-based watermarking, cropping, redaction, OCR, stamping, certifying and page numbering tools to take quick actions on documents. Additional features include branded agreement templates with a company’s name, logo and custom URL. Conversion of any document into a web form; automated sending of one document to many people for e-signatures; and an option to send payments with e-signed agreements.

    Adobe Commerce will enable SMB retailers to incorporate Walmart’s, PayPal’s and FedEx’s enterprise-grade solutions, enabling any merchant to offer an omnichannel customer experience.

    Adobe Marketo Engage will add a new, entry-level automation package that helps SMBs automate and scale their marketing efforts, including quick start templates for e-mails, landing pages, forms and campaigns that SMBs can quickly edit and launch; cloning ability for campaign workflows; and tokens for emails, landing pages or campaigns will personalize the customer experience and lead to higher conversions.

    Digitizing small businesses is a massive market opportunity for digital solutions providers across the globe. Last year, Adobe partnered with Mastercard for digital payout solutions.
    With the help of the new e-signature powered by Adobe Sign, the new solution from Mastercard Send enables an end-to-end digital document workflow and accelerates the approval process and delivery of funds to customers.

  • Prophius partners Mastercard to launch “PayContactless solution”

    Prophius partners Mastercard to launch “PayContactless solution”

    Prophius, a financial technology company dedicated to expanding the payment acceptance value chain through innovative and cost-effective payment solutions, has partnered with Mastercard Incorporated MA to launch its new program “PayContactless solution” – a contactless acceptance solution that transforms any NFC-enabled Android device into a physical point of sale.

    This initiative is expected to encourage consumers’ choice for secure and convenient digital payments while increasing small and micro business adoption of digital payments in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and other important markets in Sub-Saharan Africa.

    PayContactless was designed by leveraging the power of the inexpensive digital payment technology known as Mastercard Tap on Phone, which was developed in 2020 by the tech giant. Using the solution that Mastercard has developed, Android smartphones can now function as secure payment acceptance devices for use with contactless cards, mobile wallets, and smartwatches. additionally, there is no prerequisite hardware or initial cost for the cellphones to function as a physical point of sale (POS).

    Small enterprises and consumers benefit from the new solution

    A consumer who chooses to pay using the PayContactless solution simply has to tap a contactless card or wearable to the merchant’s device. If the purchase amount is higher than the customer’s verification threshold for contactless payment, however, the client will be asked to enter the bank card PIN (known only by the cardholder) on the merchant’s phone.

    Read also: Mastercard, OPay, To Expand Across Africa in New Deal

    The widespread adoption of this new solution is projected to benefit both small enterprises and the consumers that patronize them. The ability to take card payments easily will benefit small businesses. Shoppers, like enterprises, will benefit from the enhanced convenience and safety at the checkout.

    Achieving this milestone makes Prophius the first Financial Technology (Fintech) in West Africa to get Mastercard certification for Tap on Phone and perpetuates the company’s objective to facilitate trade and provide seamless payment experiences at the point of sale.

    “This is the next level for us in our effort to allow trade at the doorstep in a simple, affordable, and effective manner,” Olugbenga Adams, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Prophius, stated. “It is particularly useful for small businesses that want to accept payments but can’t afford the necessary hardware. and also for  partners, such as financial institutions and Fintech companies, that want to enhance their existing products with contactless payments acceptance.”

    Prophius is collaborating with a number of financial institutions across Sub-Saharan Africa to provide this service to small companies beginning in October 2022.

    The partnership aligns with Mastercard’s objectives

    Ebehijie Momoh, Country Manager & Area Business Head, West Africa at Mastercard, says  “Small businesses are crucial for systemic economic recovery, and by connecting more SMEs to digital commerce tools and affordable payment acceptance solutions, we are putting in place a strong foundation that can facilitate sustainable growth. 

    “Through our relationship with Prophius, we can further boost financial inclusion and assist these companies in creating fresh and best-in-class contactless customer experiences utilizing a device they already own: a smartphone,” she added.

    Mastercard, OPay, To Expand Across Africa in New Deal

    Tap on Phone functionality is aligned with Mastercard’s goal of bringing 50 million micro and small businesses into the digital economy by 2025 and providing faster and more accessible payments without compromising security.

    Mastercard’s latest partnership exemplifies the company’s ongoing efforts to integrate cutting-edge digital solutions into the global payments ecosystem, therefore bringing more individuals and organizations within the purview of a flourishing digital economy. 

    The MA solution that converts smartphones into payment acceptance devices appears to perfectly grasp the burgeoning opportunities in the global digital payments industry as mobile phones become more vital to our daily lives as a convenient technology.

    It is expected that Mastercard’s expansion of its Tap on Phone service across all of Sub-Saharan Africa would help to further fortify the company’s footprints in the region, which is experiencing a rapidly increasing use of digital technology.

    Mastercard’s most recent program to aid small companies comes at a spur of the moment. Micro and small enterprises struggled with insufficient resources and financial difficulties as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, despite the fact that they operated in a rapidly changing digital environment in which firms were pushed to incorporate digitalization into their operations. Since then, Mastercard has continuously partnered with a wide range of well-established organizations, supplying a variety of cutting-edge digital payment solutions and pursuing substantial investments, in order to rescue such enterprises from catastrophe.

    Other companies making active attempts to buffer small businesses, like Mastercard, include American Express Company (AXP), Visa Inc. (V), and Global Payments Inc. (GPN).

  • Mastercard, OPay, To Expand Across Africa in New Deal

    Mastercard, OPay, To Expand Across Africa in New Deal

    Mastercard and OPay, a Nigerian fintech unicorn, launched a strategic agreement today to expand the service operations throughout the Middle East and Africa.

    Thanks to a Mastercard virtual payment solution linked to the OPay eWallet, OPay users and merchants throughout the area – including Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa, and the UAE – may engage with brands and businesses anywhere in the world.

     

    Read Also : Mobiblanc, Skaleet To Provide Comprehensive Solutions to African Banks



    This collaboration is the latest step in Mastercard’s emerging market strategy, which involves the technology company collaborating with fast-growing Fintech companies like OPay to expand access to digital payments, enable a variety of lifestyle services, create new financial inclusion pathways, and support the next generation of super-apps.

    Customers using the Mastercard virtual payment solution linked to their OPay wallets will be able to shop at well-known global businesses for leisure, travel, lodging, entertainment, streaming services, and more during the initial phase of this cooperation.



    What Mastercard and OPay Partnership Offers To The Customer

    Regardless of whether or not the customer has a bank account, the service is provided. Small business owners can also buy from suppliers in other countries and pay with a secure virtual payment solution.

    “Partnerships are at the heart of Mastercard innovation approach, which supports inclusion at scale.” Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President for Market Development, Mastercard EEMEA, says, “Our partnership with OPay demonstrates our commitment to supporting payments providers around the world to create an interconnected global payments ecosystem that benefits a diverse range of consumers with unique needs.”

     

    Read Also : MoMo PBS Limited Begins Operations in Nigeria



    “We are happy to be cooperating with Mastercard as we continue on our journey to promote financial inclusion, helping to open up the global economy to more people and businesses across the Middle East and Africa,” said Yahui Zhou, CEO of OPay.

    OPay active customers have risen to 15 million in the dozens of locations where it operates since it began operations in 2018. On a daily basis, the company executes millions of transactions.

    Users in Nigeria, where OPay has a large market share, have saved billions of dollars in the previous four years through credit-linked savings accounts from their mobile wallets and small loans from OPay-partnered lenders.

    In the next three to five years, plans are in place to offer OPay services in other markets, accelerating the expansion of digital inclusion and digital commerce while also expanding OPay client involvement in the global economy.

    Mastercard has declared a global commitment to financial inclusion, pledging to integrate 1 billion people and 50 million micro and small companies into the digital economy by 2025, with a focus on 25 million women entrepreneurs.

     

    About Opay

    OPay is a mobile-based payment, transportation, food and grocery delivery, and other key services in your daily life all in one place. OPay is used by millions of people every day to transfer and receive money, pay bills, and place food and grocery orders.

    The Central Bank of Nigeria has granted OPay Digital Services Limited a license to operate a mobile money platform. Since its launch in June 2018, the company has expanded its services to include over 300,000 mobile money merchants in all 36 states of Nigeria. On this website and on OPay social media pages, unauthorized reproduction and/or dissemination of copyrighted materials is strictly banned.

     

  • Facebook sells its digital currency project

    Facebook sells its digital currency project

    Diem, the Facebook-backed digital currency project, has announced the sale of its technology for $182 million, capping a year-long initiative that attracted significant regulatory scrutiny.
    Facebook’s announcement in 2019 of plans to design a cryptocurrency and payment system raised immediate red flags for global finance officials, who expressed a barrage of criticism about the security and reliability of a private network.
    “The idea of Facebook doing a cryptocurrency was a bridge too far for regulators,” said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group. They have made it clear they don’t trust Facebook with what they are doing now, we are not going to let it go into the money business.”
    Diem Networks’ US CEO Stuart Levey said in a statement that the initiative made progress, but “it nevertheless became clear from our dialogue with federal regulators that the project could not move ahead.”

    “Over the coming weeks, the Diem Association and its subsidiaries expect to begin the process of winding down,” the association’s statement said.
    The technology was bought by Silvergate Capital Corporation in California is a go-to for crypto projects, which put the sale price at $182 million.

    Silvergate bought development, deployment and operations infrastructure, as well as tools for running a blockchain-based payment network for payments as well as cross-border wire transfers.
    “As far as I can tell, Diem is dead,” Enderle said.
    “As we undertook this effort, we actively sought feedback from governments and regulators around the world, and the project evolved substantially and improved as a result,” the Diem association’s statement said. Facebook developed the technology, initially named Libra, and then entrusted control of the project to an independent entity based in Geneva.
    After the defection of several major partners such as PayPal, Visa and Mastercard, the organization scaled back its ambitions, before renaming itself Diem at the end of 2020.
    The so-called stable coin — a type of digital money tied to other kinds of assets — never launched. It was not clear what will become of related plans for Facebook-parent Meta to build a virtual wallet for holding cryptocurrency.
    “The combination of a stable coin issuer or wallet provider and a commercial firm could lead to an excessive concentration of economic power,” US regulators said in a 2021 report.
    “These policy concerns are analogous to those traditionally associated with the mixing of banking and commerce, such as advantages in accessing credit or using data to market or restrict access to products,” the report said.
    Facebook, which renamed itself, Meta, in October, has faced criticism on the dominant position it holds online, yet it’s not the only powerful organization interested in crypto.
    Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi wondered whether Libra-turned-Diem was, from the outset, part of Facebook’s vision of being a platform for the metaverse. “Cryptocurrency is going to get into the metaverse one way or another,” Milanesi said.
    “Maybe that is what Facebook is counting on and decided to leave the headache to someone else.”
    People are already buying real estate in immersive, virtual worlds referred to as the metaverse.
    The European Central Bank in July formally launched a pilot project to create a “digital euro,” in response to the growing popularity of electronic payments and the rise of cryptocurrencies. Central banks are also responding to increased demand for digital payment options as cash use continues to decline, a trend fueled by the pandemic and the desire to avoid contact.
    “There is a lot of distrust surrounding cryptocurrency, and a lot of us in the industry are convinced it is a big Ponzi scheme,” Enderle said. The Diem asset sale “is another red flag on crypto,” he added.