International electronic payment company, MasterCard, and have announced a multi-country licensing agreement which will provide the bank’s customers in 23 African countries with access to MasterCard’s payment solutions.
With the agreement, Ecobank subsidiaries in 28 countries across Africa can now issue and accept MasterCard’s prepaid, debit and credit cards. In return, MasterCard will leverage Ecobank’s unrivalled pan-African footprint to provide its electronic payments solutions to a wider customer base.
Patrick Akinwuntan, Ecobank’s group executive director responsible for Domestic Banking said: “The provision of convenient, reliable and accessible financial products and services forms the bedrock of Ecobank’s Pan African strategy.
“We also recognize that partnerships with leading global players such as MasterCard are key to accelerating the migration of our customers to a ‘cashless society’ throughout Africa .”
The bank is licensed in Burkina Faso, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea (Conakry), Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“We are proud to partner with Ecobank, which is quickly growing its presence in Africa. This is the largest multi-country licensing project completed by MasterCard in Africa and as such is a great milestone for us, as we aim to achieve our vision of a world beyond cash by bringing the benefits of electronic payments to an increased customer base in Sub-Saharan Africa,” said Daniel Monehin, division president, Sub-Saharan Africa, MasterCard.
“We expect that the 28 newly licensed Ecobank subsidiaries will begin to accept MasterCard credit, debit and prepaid cards at their ATMs and Points of Sale from early 2014, as we work with the Ecobank Group to complete licensing of the remaining Ecobank subsidiaries.”
