Karachi, Pakistan; 31 October 2023: Mastercard has announced a strategic partnership with Euronet – an industry leader in processing secure electronic financial transactions – to bring Card-as-a-Service (CaaS) and Bank-as-a-Fintech (BaaF) solutions to Pakistan. The emerging CaaS and BaaF models allow banks, non-financial institutions and fintechs to easily create and launch innovative products with scalability and quicker time-to-market.
This partnership will introduce Mastercard products and services to a range of players by building a ready-to-market CaaS and BaaF hub under a fully outsourced and managed services model hosted on Euronet’s next-gen payments platform.
The proposition encompasses Mastercard and Euronet’s integrated platform and solutions, allowing businesses to swiftly introduce next-generation customer propositions. The partnership paves the way for issuer banks to roll out customer-focused solutions in record time through off-the-shelf, ready to market use cases, delivered through sandbox portals tailored to banks, fintech companies, and non-financial institutions segments.
Furthermore, customers will be able to use software development kits (SDKs) or leverage ready-made bundled propositions to offer unmatched products and services to their subscribers’ base in a fast and efficient way, Meanwhile, consumers will enjoy easy access to tailored digital financial products, such as youth and SME segments.
For governments, the collaboration will support on-soil mandates and serve the community by launching new products aimed at enhancing financial wellness and educational apps for youth, while creating a one-stop shop for such services and enrich that with Mastercard’s exclusive products benefits and services.
“At Mastercard, we have always recognized that modernizing payments is pivotal to providing seamless and innovative services to consumers. This partnership is aligned with our commitment to offer market-ready solutions that cater to evolving consumer needs in Pakistan. Together, we will act as a lighthouse, guiding banks, non-financial institutions and fintech companies through a streamlined pathway to access Mastercard assets and products in the country,” said J.K Khalil, Cluster General Manager, MENA East, Mastercard.
“As a leading payment processor in Pakistan, we are committed to facilitate the market by offering innovative payment programs and help eliminate the dependencies for market players who are unable to enter the payment services rails due to obstacles and dependencies like BIN sponsorship, infrastructure readiness, operational overheads, time-to-market, and minimum viable product (MVP) build. Aligned with regulatory mandates for a digitized payments ecosystem and infrastructure, our partnership with Mastercard will enable new market segments and demographics to access relevant Mastercard products, services, and benefits. These will be user-friendly, readily accessible propositions, aligning with a pay-as-you-grow model, ensuring expeditious launch times in weeks rather than months” said Kashif Gaya, CEO, Euronet Pakistan.
Commencing with the introduction of these services in Pakistan, Mastercard and Euronet intend to explore opportunities to expand this to other markets in the Middle East and Africa.
