Mastercard collaborates with Scale to accelerate digital payment in Africa, Middle East

Mastercard has partnered with Scale, an issuer orchestration partner, to accelerate market deployment for fintech companies across Africa and the Middle East.

According to a statement shared with Technext, the collaboration will alleviate key technical and commercial barriers to entry that fintech companies, aggregators, enablers, payment service providers (PSPs) and telcos face when launching payment programs – enabling them to focus on their core business and launch new products and services efficiently.

The partnership will bring a variety of advantages not only to fintech companies but also to a wide range of other players across the ecosystem.

Mastercard and Scale will support fintech companies and other ecosystem players in securing BIN sponsorships, building sustainable unit economics, designing and commercializing their card and other payment programs, productization, assessing profitability models for their programs and delivering world-class customer experience.

“At Mastercard, we are committed to working with local ecosystem players to drive the growth of innovative payment solutions across the region with the aim of bridging the digital gap, enhancing financial inclusion and improving access to financial services. With its in-depth knowledge of the fintech landscape, Scale is our ideal partner in achieving these goals,” said Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President of Market Development, EEMEA, Mastercard.

Founded by South African entrepreneur and industry expert Miranda Perumal, Scale is charting a course to reshape the continent’s financial landscape. The startup supports Fintechs across their segments and stages by enabling their Go-To-Market and Speed-to-Revenue strategies through the technology and partnership suite.

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“Fintech companies move at speed and require commercially viable collaborations with experienced companies that cater to a cost-sensitive market. Through our exciting partnership with Mastercard, we are solving a major pain point and providing a single point of contact while absorbing the complexities of seeking a bank BIN sponsor, third-party processor and other payment solution providers. This combined ecosystem service allows fintech players to focus on their core business, and us to focus on ours – streamlining processes, enabling payments and supporting the program’s growth to earn revenues faster,” said Miranda Perumal, Co-Founder & CEO, Scale.

Together with their partners, they will co-create inclusive value propositions that are poised for long-term growth. The collaboration will evolve into a technology proposition, enabling any tech company to acquire the Mastercard issuing capability through Scale.

Mastercard will plug its managed services into the partners’ systems and run their card program implementation from end to end. In the post-launch period, Scale will assist the partners in growing their portfolios, driving revenues and achieving profitability by understanding consumer behaviours, market dynamics and competitors.

For financial institutions, it will facilitate collaborations with stakeholders in the card value chain. Meanwhile, merchants will enjoy easy access to digital financial products and services that will allow them to grow their businesses.

For governments, the new financial offerings available in the market will contribute to reducing cash-based transactions, enabling more people and businesses to participate in economic development and boosting GDP growth.

Finally, consumers will have choices of financial products and services that meet their needs.

The post Mastercard collaborates with Scale to accelerate digital payment in Africa, Middle East first appeared on Technext.