The Nation Newspaper

Tag: MasterCard

  • MasterCard renews UEFA Champions League sponsorship

    MasterCard has extended its long-standing UEFA Champions League sponsorship for the next three seasons through to 2018.

    The renewal includes sponsorship of the UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Women’s Champions League final and the UEFA Youth League finals. The agreement will also see MasterCard continue as the Official Provider of UEFA Champions League player mascots.

    Few weeks ago, the brand welcomed three kids Abba Ahmed, Jordan Ubah and Jamiu Babatunde, who were sponsored to the UEFA champion’s league finals in Berlin at the olympiastadion as player’s mascots.

    Vice President and Business Head MasterCard Africa Omokehinde ojomuyide said MasterCard Goal Celebration contest had hundreds of entries.

    However, with the renewal of its sponsorship, the Chief Marketing Officer of MasterCard, Raja Rajamannar, said MasterCard brand was excited to renew its deal in the UEFA Champions League.

  • UEFA final match delights MasterCard sponsored player mascots

    After being named winners of the MasterCard Goal Celebration Contest, two football-loving children from Nigeria were part of a MasterCard Priceless Experience penultimate weekend as official player mascots for the UEFA Champions League Final in Berlin at the Olympia Stadion.

    The two winners – Abba Ahmed and Jordan Ubah –walked through the tunnel and onto the pitch, escorting star players from FC Barcelona and Juventus.

    The player mascots, according to MasterCard in a statement, also experienced the buzz and excitement of the pre-match build up, which included access to the tunnel, a practice run out and collection of their official match day uniform.

    The Vice President and Area Business Head, MasterCard, West Africa, Omokehinde Ojomuyide, who selected the two finalists, said the player mascots enjoyed an absolutely priceless experience on the pitch during the final.

    The contest saw parents, teachers and football coaches share videos of their children and students performing a goal celebration on social media to stand a chance to win a MasterCard Priceless Experience, which also included the all-expense paid trip with their families to watch the UEFA Champions League Final.

    The panel of judges consisting of former international footballer Nwankwo Kanu, Tunji Adeyinka, Managing Director, Connect Marketing and Ojomuyide, selected the two finalists from hundreds of entries.

    When notifying these two children that they had won the contest, MasterCard created two Priceless Surprises to make the experience even more special.

    Ahmed’s Priceless Surprise included being invited to attend a movie with his family. The movie was interrupted by a video message from Kanu, who pronounced Ahmed one of the contest’s winners. Kanu then walked into the movie theatre and presented Ahmed with his player escort jersey, after which they performed a goal celebration.

  • Union Bank wins MasterCard PoS award

    Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has emerged the financial  industry’s “Cashless POS Activation Champion,” in the MasterCard cashless champion awards for last year.

    The bank received the award for recording the highest increase in the activation of its Point of Sale (POS) terminals as recorded by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System’s (NIBSS) Payments Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) report.

    The report indicated that by the end of last year, Union Bank had attained an “active-to-deploy” POS ratio of 98 per cent, against the 56 per cent industry rate. The bank had also deployed the highest number of POS terminals with over three thousand POS points, representing a 116 per cent growth rate when compared to the third quarter of 2014.

    Commenting on the award, the Head of E-Business, Mr. Fatai Baruwa said: “As we focus on building a simpler, smarter bank, ensuring that our customers adopt alternative channels for payments and banking services is critical. When a customer requests a debit card, we proactively ensure the customer follows through and activates that card on our POS terminals. As we get set to rollout our instant card offering across the country, we expect our activation rates to go up”.

    In 2014, Union Bank announced that it had begun implementing a transformation strategy that will make it a highly respected provider of quality financial services. The bank has commenced a restructuring of its physical and technology infrastructure as well as optimisation of its branch network.  The MasterCard Cashless Awards was launched in October 2014 by global payments technology company MasterCard and aims to promote a culture of cashless transactions.

  • Zenith Bank MasterCard award

    Zenith Bank MasterCard award

    Head E-Business Zenith Bank, Juliet Nwangwuma, left,Area Business Head,West Africa, MasterCard, Omokehinde Ojomuyide and Head Retail Banking Zenith Bank, Chioma Nkechika at the award presentation by mastercard to Zenith Bank in lagos on Monday Photo ,Bola Omilabu
    Head E-Business Zenith Bank, Juliet Nwangwuma, left,Area Business Head,West Africa, MasterCard, Omokehinde Ojomuyide and Head Retail Banking Zenith Bank, Chioma Nkechika at the award presentation by mastercard to Zenith Bank in lagos on Monday Photo ,Bola Omilabu

  • AfDB, MasterCard to broaden banking access

    African Development Bank (AfDB) and MasterCard are collaborating to expand financial inclusion on the continent. The collaboration seeks to develop solutions that drive inclusive growth in Africa by broadening access and use of digital financial services.

    MasterCard said it is bringing to the table its proven expertise to design and scale inclusive financial services solutions and infrastructure.

    The AfDB promotes sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction in Africa.AfDB and MasterCard will work with African governments and local companies to develop and deliver affordable services that meet the needs of consumers, especially the traditionally unbanked.

    The collaboration will seek to build cohesive financial systems that drive inclusion at a country level and enable service delivery to traditionally excluded populations. It will also allow the stakeholders to invest in a set of innovative financial services companies and solutions targeted at addressing barriers that hinder financial inclusion; and share knowledge across academic, policy and commercial sectors to create thought leadership on financial inclusion and economic development.

    President, AfDB, Donald Kaberuka, said: “Despite the phenomenal economic growth in Africa, this has not translated into shared prosperity and better livelihoods for the majority. Growth has to be inclusive to be socially and politically sustainable. One key component of inclusive development is financial inclusion, an area in which Africa has been lagging behind other continents. Broadening access to financial services will mobilise greater household savings, marshal capital for investment, expand the class of entrepreneurs, and enable more people to invest in themselves and their families.”

    President/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), MasterCard, Ajay Banga, said: “Less than one adult out of four in Africa has access to an account at a financial institution. While many of our industry partners have been active in this space, we believe that through our payments expertise, and the AfDB’s 50 years of experience in financing Africa’s economic transformation, we can achieve scaled impact and lasting transformation. This can only be accomplished when the public and private sectors combine resources and act together.”

     

  • Protect your MasterCard, Enterprise Bank urges

    Enterprise Bank Limited has called on its MasterCard holders to protect their cards against internet fraudsters by subscribing to MasterCard Secure Code.

    In a statement the Corporate Communications Department of the lender said Secure Code provides a second level authentication of cardholder when performing on-line transactions. This solution, it said, is supported by MasterCard in providing additional comfort and security when transactions are done online.

    The bank said when making an internet purchase, the cardholder’s identity is always authenticated at the point of payment before the merchant submits an authorisation request.

    The bank said customers can do online transactions from the comfort of their homes or offices by visiting its website to register all the MasterCard variants including the Debit, Prepaid (both in dollar and naira) as well as the Credit card, among others.

    The lender said the service restores the cardholder’s confidence while shopping online and enables the cardholders to identify phishing sites while protecting cardholders from fake web merchants.

    Enterprise Bank started operation in August 2011, as a full-service commercial bank with a national banking license.

    The bank operates via a sizeable distribution network of over 160 branches spread across major markets and commercial centres in Nigeria, and with over 177 automated teller machines (ATMs), 57 Cash Centres and 2,000 point of sales (PoS) terminals.

     

  • UBA, MasterCard partner on e-payments

    MasterCard and United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc have completed a multi-country licensing project that will see the lender accept and issue MasterCard prepaid, debit and credit cards in 14 countries across sub-Saharan Africa.

    Through the partnership, 14 of UBA’s 19 subsidiaries across sub-Saharan Africa, will gain access to MasterCard payment solutions, and by so doing, enjoy the security and convenience of electronic payments.

    A statement from the bank said MasterCard will leverage its footprint to enhance the adoption of cashless payments in a wider geographical region across Africa.

    The UBA is licensed to accept and issue MasterCard products in Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea (Conakry), Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Prior to the completion of the deal, United Bank for Africa was licensed to issue MasterCard payment products in Nigeria.

    Deputy Managing Director and CEO, UBA Africa, Kennedy Uzoka said: “This collaboration is a reflection of our vision, which is to be Africa’s bank of choice for the provision of innovative financial products and services. We understand the significance of partnerships, and what we have with a global player such as MasterCard, is an integral part of achieving our vision for Africa.”

    Division President, sub-Saharan Africa, MasterCard, Daniel Monehin, said: “MasterCard’s commitment to Africa means that we continue to work with various partners in the financial services sector to continually develop products that help consumers make the shift from the use of cash, to the adoption of electronic payments, which hold numerous benefits for them.

    “We are proud to partner UBA, whose growing footprint in sub-Saharan Africa, also means that the financially underserved will be brought into the financial services fold owing to the development of diverse and relevant products and services.”

  • FCMB inaugurates MasterCard

    First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited, has commenced a special offer to reward customers who use its Debit MasterCard for cash withdrawals, purchases or online payments within and outside Nigeria, with cash and unique gift items such as iPad-minis and android phones.

    The special incentive, which comes in two categories namely; Issuance/Activation and Usage and tagged, FCMB MasterCard Offer, commenced in September and will run till end of October, 2014.

    Under the Issuance/activation category, a customer issued the bank’s MasterCard for the first time, receives unique FCMB customised pens and key rings instantly, upon the activation of the card.

    For the card usage category, a customer who spends up to N500,000 within Nigeria to effect transactions on Point of Sales (PoS) or via the internet, gets up to 1.5 per cent cash back on total spend directly in his or her account. In addition, a total spend of N2 million and above outside Nigeria on PoS, ATM or the internet, will be rewarded instantly with gifts such as an iPad-mini, a Microsoft surface, an android phone, amongst others. The gift reward is contingent on the total amount spent.

    Speaking on the MasterCard offer, the Executive Director, Service Management and Technology, Mr. Nath Ude, said the FCMB MasterCard offer is another way FCMB appreciates its customers for embracing its array of innovative products and services. “We will continue to demonstrate our commitment in providing customers with easy, convenient and reliable channels to conduct financial transactions,” Mr. Ude stated.

     

  • Visa, Mastercard to stay in Russia

    Visa, Mastercard to stay in Russia

    Credit and debit card companies Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc have pledged to continue to operate in Russia and proposed creating their own Russia-based payment operators.

    Visa and Mastercard executives met members of the Russian government in St Petersburg to discuss new rules that would oblige foreign card companies to pay a hefty security deposit to the central bank to work in Russia. The companies said the rules – passed by Russia’s parliament after the West imposed sanctions on a number of individuals and companies over the Ukraine crisis – would complicate their Russian operations but had no plans to exit.

    “In any situation, we will stay in Russia,” Ilya Ryaby, general director of Mastercard in Russia, told journalists at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Andrew Torre, director of Visa in Russia, said: “We are willing to work in Russia and after this meeting we hope that a compromise solution will be found”.

    After Friday’s meeting, Ryaby said the card companies had discussed what could be done to create a system of cashless transactions and a system of servicing payment cards in Russia.

    Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters that Visa and Mastercard’s plans to set up Russia-based subsidiaries would take around a year and a half. In the meantime they would work with Russia’s existing payment systems, he said.

    “We are willing to cooperate in this direction,” Siluanov said. “I think we will find a solution that suits both Visa and Mastercard and the Russian Federation.”

    Visa and Mastercard stopped serving several Russian banks after the United States imposed sanctions over the annexation of Crimea in March.

    Russia later launched a package of measures aimed at stimulating the creation of a Russian national payment system to reduce its reliance on Western companies.

    Among those measures, foreign card companies would from July 1 have to pay a security deposit of 25 per cent of their average daily turnover in Russia to the central bank once a quarter.

  • Enterprise Bank enhances e-payment

    Enterprise Bank enhances e-payment

    Enterprise Bank Limited has assured its customers of additional convenience as they make use of the dual purpose MasterCard Prepaid Card. The card, it said in a statement, is used locally and internationally.

    It described the card as a multi-purpose chip and pin debit card that can be pre-funded with cash. The card can then be used to effect cashless payments (like a bank debit card) on the Internet, Point of Sale (POS) terminals and cash from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

    It said that one of the unique benefits of the Enterprise Bank Mastercard Prepaid, which is available to both customers and non-customers of the bank, is that it can be pre-funded in Naira or USD denominations. It is also ideal for students, corporate accounts (expense cards, estacode, and corporate travel) and travel cards, among others.

    The card, the bank added, also eliminates the burden of carrying large sums of money around, which otherwise is loadable on the prepaid card. With the product, the statement further stated that holders of the Mastercard Prepaid do not need to carry huge amounts in foreign currencies for foreign trips because money loaded in the card is already available, secure, safe and can be used anywhere in the world.

    The bank said that the process of acquiring the card is also simple.

     

    Customers can collect e-Business Application forms from any branch of Enterprise Bank nationwide and submit completed ones with required documents. Once this is perfected, the individual will collect the card on the spot and in addition, receive a welcome letter and a user manual, which guides effective usage of the card.