MasterCard Joins Forces with Smart Hub for Mpayments
MasterCard Worldwide and Smart Hub, a subsidiary of Smart Communications, a mobile network operator (MNO) in the Philippines, have launched a joint venture to mobilise MasterCard payment solutions for consumers around the world. The partnership brings together Smart Hub’s tested mobile payments platform and telecom experience and MasterCard’s global brand, resilient network and electronic payments legacy in order to establish a mobile payments infrastructure for the world’s developing economies.
The joint venture will leverage the intersection of mobile telecommunications and electronic payments to meet the needs of the expanding mobile payments (mpayments) marketplace and grow their businesses. It will build upon their introduction of the MasterCard Mobile Payments Gateway, an open payment processing platform designed to facilitate MasterCard mpayment solutions in developing markets, with the first launch scheduled in Brazil with Itaú Unibanco and Redecard, along with mobile network operator Vivo in Brazil.
“Our longstanding commitment to facilitating the development of the global mobile payments marketplace makes the joint venture with Smart Hub an exciting opportunity for MasterCard to speed up the execution of our mobile payments strategy in developing economies,” said Joshua Peirez, head of innovative platforms, MasterCard Worldwide. “By deepening our relationship, we will empower the one billion mobile phone users without bank accounts around the world by providing a link to the MasterCard Worldwide Network – the electronic infrastructure facilitating global commerce.”