NMB Bank PLC has partnered with Mastercard to roll out 1.5 million Mastercard branded prepaid and credit cards in Tanzania over the next five years.
This collaboration will strengthen domestic payment ecosystem and empower Tanzanian consumers with safe and secure electronic payments.
The partnership between NMB Bank and Mastercard comes at a time when Tanzania’s financial sector is migrating from magnetic strip cards towards the more secure EMV Chip and PIN cards. EMV technology has been touted as the safest way to conduct cashless payment transactions, and has been adopted widely by major markets globally, resulting in reduced card fraud and more efficient payment systems.
Ruth Zaipuna, Acting Managing Director, NMB Bank, said: “We are pleased to work together with Mastercard to launch 1.5 million prepaid and credit cards in Tanzania. This initiative reaffirms our commitment to deepening the local cash lite economy, and underpins our goal of reaching over 300,000 customers in 2020 to drive financial inclusion and create a cashless society. Not only will these cards provide consumers with a secure means of making transactions, but they will also support the business community, whose purchases demand the use of foreign currencies. This move is a significant milestone in Tanzania, and we are confident that it will provide all types of customers with enormous value, from the mass segment to private banking customers.”
With the NMB prepaid card, customers will have an opportunity to access over 15 currencies across the world, and have six currencies active at the same time, loaded into one prepaid card.
Frank Molla, Mastercard Director, Country Business Development, East Africa, said: “Mastercard has been spearheading the transition to contactless for over 15 years, championing tap-and-go as the most simple, safe and a fast way to pay. Innovation is central to achieving our vision of cashless society in Tanzania, and we remain committed to developing market-relevant payment solutions that offer true value to consumers. This partnership with NMB supports our goal to bring 1 billion people into the digital economy by 2025, and we are pleased to work together in Tanzania towards the growth of a cash lite economy.”
