MasterCard is known for praising its “Cashless Pioneers” and for promoting their work in driving the world further away from cash. In January the payments giant decided to reward its Cashless Pioneers in the Netherlands with a Debit Card Champions event in Amsterdam.
Sports metaphors aside, the event was filled with performances by Dutch artists, industry demonstrations and many drinks. To make sure the night stayed cashless, MasterCard offered every attendee a bracelet equipped with its PayPass technology and some credit to spend on drinks.
The event, organized by the Foundation Promoting Efficient Payments (SBEB) in collaboration with retail branch organizations, banks and MasterCard, also sought to raise awareness of cashless payments in the country. Despite the fact that almost all Dutch consumers own a Maestro payment card, two thirds of payments are still carried out with cash.
MasterCard hopes to change this in 2013 with the rollout of contactless cards from Dutch banks ING and ABN Amro. The company also hinted at the possibility of a mobile payments rollout in the country this year.
