Mastercard collaborates with fintech start-up Scale in Africa

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

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 programmes - enabling them to focus on their core business and launch new products and services efficiently.

“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, Market Development, EEMEA, Mastercard.

BIN sponsorships

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

“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 programme’s growth to earn revenues faster,” said Miranda Perumal, Co-Founder & CEO, Scale.

Mastercard will plug in its managed services into the partners’ systems and run their card programme 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 behaviors, market dynamics and competitors.

Variety of advantages

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.

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 more choice of financial products and services that meet their needs.--