Mastercard Continues B2B Focus In Middle East

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Mastercard has invested significantly in the Middle East, home to a blossoming FinTech scene. Most recently, the credit card company struck a partnership with Swipezoom in the United Arab Emirates to roll out a B2B payment and invoice management solution, signaling B2B FinTech as a key focus for Mastercard in the market.

This week, reports said the company is introducing another B2B tool in the region in partnership with Doha Bank. The entities revealed Monday (Feb. 20) that they are partnering up to develop a payroll card solution for corporate clients of Doha Bank in Qatar.

“Our partnership with Mastercard serves to bring the best card products to our growing customer base,” said Doha Bank Group CEO Dr. R Seetharaman in a statement. “This partnership is in line with Doha Bank’s overall strategy to bring the utmost value to employers and equally to payroll customers within the entire framework of the Wages Protection System implementation.”

In addition to a payroll solution, the companies will offer remittance and contactless payment solutions as part of a broader focus on financial inclusion. The firms added that these solutions will also align with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, and the Qatar Central Bank’s efforts to protect employees and their access to wages by promoting direct deposit of payroll into an employees bank account.

“Through collaborative efforts such as the one with Doha Bank, we are providing engineering solutions that will help create a more integrated payments ecosystem, as well as a more inclusive economy in Qatar,” said Mastercard Division President of Middle East and North Africa Khalid Elgibali in another statement. “Innovation plays a key role in driving inclusion in the market, and access to convenient solutions such as payroll cards will give more communities access to the formal financial sector.”

Doha Bank and Mastercard have worked together in the past, launching a co-branded credit card in 2011.