Articles from Mastercard

Mastercard has expanded its operations in West Africa with the opening of its first office in Accra, Ghana. This strategic milestone underscores Mastercard’s commitment to supporting the country's growing digital economy by providing innovative financial products and services tailored to the market.

Mastercard has solidified its position as a leader in Africa’s rapidly growing gaming industry by hosting the company’s first-ever Africa Esports Summit in Casablanca. The event was a pivotal step in Mastercard’s broader mission to empower Africa’s esports and gaming ecosystem, emphasizing its strategic commitment to supporting digital economies and fostering the continent’s gaming landscape.

Instant and secure payments can act as a multiplier to help businesses and economies thrive and grow. To further Mastercard’s vision of bringing immediacy to card payments, the company today announced that South Africa will be the first market in the world to benefit from the security and speed of immediate Mastercard card payments. Through product innovations, enhancements to its network and strategic partnerships, Mastercard will enable acquiring banks to process real-time card payments.

Mastercard and Amazon Payment Services have signed a multi-year commercial partnership agreement to digitize payment acceptance in Middle East and Africa, across countries including Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, South Africa and UAE.

Safaricom and Mastercard have signed a partnership to accelerate the adoption of payment acceptance and cross-border remittance services in Kenya. This collaboration is set to benefit over 636,000 merchants using M-PESA, Safaricom’s leading mobile money service.

Alshaya Group, one of the leading international retail franchise operators, has partnered with Mastercard to expand its award-winning loyalty programme, Aura. The partnership, which will see the launch of an Aura co-branded credit card in multiple markets over the next two years including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, aims to drive growth of the retail sector across the GCC region and bring additional benefits to Aura members.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has emerged as one of the main regions driving growth in affluent travel, recording high spends, while also displaying an appetite for sustainable eco-luxury and meaningful cultural experiences. Mastercard’s latest report, ‘Affluent Travel: A Middle East Perspective’, released during the Arabian Travel Market 2024, unpacks some of the key trends.

Mastercard and MTN Group Fintech have signed a multi-market agreement that will set in motion a new era of collaboration to connect millions of people and small businesses across Africa with digital tools to transact through secure mobile payments, expanding access to the benefits of the cashless digital economy.

Bringing together the journeys of some of the world’s most inspiring female leaders in arts, sports, politics, hospitality, financial services and beyond, Mastercard has unveiled a coffee-table book, ‘Lasting Legacy - Honoring 25 Visionaries to Celebrate 25 Years of Priceless’. Launched during Women’s Month 2023, the book marks the 25th anniversary of Mastercard’s renowned Priceless platform, which has been connecting people to their passions for a quarter of a century.