Mastercard launches Mastercard Strive India

By collaborating with trade associations, non-profits, and government agencies, Mastercard Strive India will focus its efforts on supporting micro-enterprises, women-owned and led businesses, as well as agri-entrepreneurs. The main objective of this program seeks to reach India’s small businesses to encourage the adoption of new digital tools and enable access to markets and digital financial services.

Mastercard Strive India joins a portfolio of philanthropic programs by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth aimed at helping small businesses worldwide thrive in the digital economy. Additional Strive programs include those in the US, the UK, Mexico, Czechia, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth has been present in India since 2014. In 2020, it amplified its efforts to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth within the country, with a five-year commitment aiming to empower Indians to succeed in the digital economy. Presently, the Center has launched three digital inclusion programs: Digital Saksham, implemented by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII); Rural Women Chamber of Commerce, implemented by Mann Deshi Foundation; and Mainstreaming Agricultural Networks & Development Initiatives (MANDI), implemented by ACCESS Development Services.

Mastercard Strive India is also in alignment with the company’s other commitments aiming to help small businesses get capital and gain knowledge. These comprise with USD 100 million credit facility launched in partnership with HDFC Bank, DFC, and USAID, and Mastercard’s commitment of USD 33 million to support small businesses in India.

Mastercard’s mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits people worldwide, by making transactions safe, simple, smart, and accessible. Mastercard utilises secure data, networks, partnerships, and develops solutions to help individuals, financial institutions, governments, as well as other businesses.

In August 2023, Mastercard had announced that it has enabled CVC-less online transactions for its Indian debit and credit cardholders that have tokenised their cards on merchant platforms. According to the press release, the new capability was introduced as part of an effort to reduce the checkout time and to make virtual transactions frictionless and secure.

Also in August 2023, Mastercard partnered with Empresa Interbancaria de Serviços to launch a co-branded contactless card with EMV technology to boost the digital economy in Angola. Through this collaboration, cardholders in Angola, such as consumers and small business owners, have the ability to make cross-border payments. Additionally, the partnership could also benefit financial institutions, as they would have cost synergies and access to Mastercard’s technology for their domestic market and cards. These potential developments are part of the Angolan Central Bank’s (BNA) plan to spur financial inclusion grow the country’s digital economy and ecosystem. 

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