Press Releases

Sokin partners with Mastercard to extend payments partnership to LATAM

If you’ve been thinking more and more about saving money during the past year, you're not alone. While the pandemic has upended our personal finance habits, small changes in our routine can make a big difference. A new initiative in Latin America supported by Mastercard, Mercado Libre, the IDB’s Retirement Savings Laboratory, and Common Cents Lab, a financial behavior research lab at Duke University, seeks to use behavioral science to help entrepreneurs and SMEs.

As stores closed and social distancing took hold, retailers worldwide moved their businesses online, embraced e-commerce and explored the potential of new ways to pay. More than a year later, research from Mastercard shows that the adoption of new payment technologies is rising, and consumer appetite for new, fast, and flexible digital experiences continues to grow.

At Mastercard, we embrace the opportunity to partner with fintech companies to help drive inclusion at scale and deliver solutions focused on doing well and doing good. Today we are pleased to welcome six scaling startups to our award-winning Mastercard Start Path program, from companies building blockchain-based payments solutions with the aim of humanizing finance to startups designing sustainable lending platforms to close the small business credit gap in emerging markets.

In Panama, Mastercard has emerged as a strategic ally in the development of the government's digitization agenda, providing its knowledge and extensive experience as an innovative leader in payments, digital infrastructure, security, and solutions for cyber fraud.

For retailers, restaurants and other businesses large and small, being able to sell online provided a much-needed lifeline as in-person consumer spending was disrupted.

Mastercard has joined the Inter-American Development Bank and other companies from the private-sector in the "Women Growing Together in the Americas", a program to encourage women entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean to integrate their businesses into foreign trade and regional value chains.

Mastercard is announcing the expansion of the Engage platform, providing customers with easy access to a growing network of qualified technology and fintech partners that can quickly deploy Mastercard Digital First solutions. They enable customers to provide entirely digital payment experiences for consumers, from acquisition and card usage to management and engagement, with a physical card option.

Mastercard has teamed up with payment processing technology company, Dynamics Payments, to launch an application (app) which will increase financial inclusion for the Caribbean region. This comprehensive solution is expected to result in a marked increase in credit and debit card usage in the coming years. The app will be available in three Caribbean markets: Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

As part of International Women’s Day, Mastercard continues its mission to support future women in technology and their entrepreneurial success by educating the next generation of leaders with its Girls4Tech program and providing digital and financial security tools to women-owned businesses across the region.

Mastercard, a leading technology company in the payments industry, today brings its customers Apple Pay, a safer, more secure and private way to pay that helps customers avoid handing their payment card to someone else, touching physical buttons or exchanging cash while using the power of iPhone to protect every transaction.

Bahamians received even greater flexibility in how they shop and pay using the country’s digital currency, the first of its kind. Under a new program from Mastercard and Island Pay, the Bahamas Sand Dollar prepaid card gives people the option to instantly convert the digital currency to traditional Bahamian dollars and pay for goods and services anywhere Mastercard is accepted on the Islands and around the world.

The company’s new Country Manager, Estanislau Bassols, brings more than 23 years of professional and leadership experience across diverse industries.  He will report to João Pedro Paro Neto, President, Mastercard Brazil and the Southern Cone.

Mastercard and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have partnered under the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative to launch Start Path Empodera, a business accelerator focused on promoting womenʼs entrepreneurship and financial inclusion in Colombia.

After a successful launch in Europe, Mastercard announced today the expansion of its new interactive business intelligence platform Market Trends in Latin America and the Caribbean. The new platform provides a comprehensive view of payments insights, competitive intelligence and industry trends for banks and financial institutions across Europe and now the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region.

To help governments and businesses of all sizes find a path forward following the challenges of 2020, the Mastercard Economics Institute released Economy 2021, an outlook of what’s to come in economies around the world and in Latin America.

A survey conducted by Mastercard and Americas Market Intelligence (AMI) in thirteen countries across the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region, including Jamaica, shows how consumer habits have changed, how the demand for financial services has increased, and how companies will have to adapt to the novel digital ecosystem generated by the pandemic.

A survey conducted by Mastercard and Americas Market Intelligence (AMI) in thirteen countries across the Latin America and Caribbean region shows how consumer habits have changed, how the demand for financial services has increased, and how companies will have to adapt to the novel digital ecosystem generated by the pandemic.

New partnership brings authenticity to supply chains, tracing more than 24 commodities, such as coffee, sorghum and grain, in Latin America and North America

87% of shoppers in Latin America and the Caribbean will make an effort to spend money in their local communities to help independent stores bounce back; Local loyalty driven by lockdown; bounce in spending in green grocers, cafes and bars, and beauty salons

According to the latest research conducted by Americas Market Intelligence in Partnership with Mastercard, early government subsidies have been critical to increasing access to the banking system.

Four partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to support planting 100 million tree

The survey shows results about the essential aspects of Latin Americans' live after quarantine. The new Mastercard campaign seeks to support consumers and small businesses as they return to a new normal.

Bancolombia, Banco Galicia, Citibanamex, Mercado Libre, and PayPal Commit to Accelerate Business Recovery and Inclusive Growth Efforts in the Region

Mastercard has announced the expansion of its Accelerate fintech portfolio, adding new companies to its startup engagement program Start Path and more technology partners to its Engage network.

Mastercard announced today it is beginning technical preparations to bring Click to Pay online checkout – based on the EMV® Secure Remote Commerce industry-standard – to Brazil and Mexico.

Mastercard has introduced its Small Business Digital Acceleration Platform, a resource for small business owners looking to expand their business digitally. The platform provides small companies a pathway to expand their online presence, protect their online operations, and adapt to the new business environment.

Study shows consumers worldwide opting for touch-free, secure and seamless ways to pay. Consumers in Latin America plan to continue shopping online for the foreseeable future.

RiskRecon, a Mastercard company, is providing LAC small businesses free cyberhealth assessments to help them identify and address potential vulnerabilities in their systems.

Today, Mastercard announced the extension of its partnership with Facebook to offer a new and innovative way for Brazilians to send and receive money from friends and family on the WhatsApp application.

New digital experiences include regional ambassadors in Gastronomy, Sports and Arts throughout the Latin American and Caribbean region.

The Tourism Insights Platform will illuminate 360-degree travel trends from search to in-market spending for Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica.

Consumers cite simplicity, cleanliness and speed through checkout experience as contactless payments booster. Mastercard champions effort to raise limits for contactless payment transactions across Latin America & Caribbean.

A new study, “Digital Banking in Latin America” unveils the latest trends and best practices that are shaping the financial industry in the region before COVID-19 and well beyond.

The #apartbutunited campaign in Latin American and the Caribbean underscores the importance of unity under extraordinary times of social distancing.

Researchers at three institutions in the U.S. and U.K. receive grants to advance studies of repurposed drugs and novel antibodies in preventing COVID-19

Mastercard announced today it is championing a move to increase the contactless payment limits across Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region as people look for safer ways to pay in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard today committed up to $125 million in seed funding to speed-up the response to the COVID-19 epidemic by identifying, assessing, developing, and scaling-up treatments.

Mastercard will sponsor the 2020 and 2024 edition of CONMEBOL Copa América for 13th and 14th consecutive edition. Additionally, it seeks to boost women’s talent in the region by sponsoring Women’s CONMEBOL Copa América for the first time.

Technology giant Mastercard announced today the launch of its Smart Islands program in the Caribbean, leading the journey towards developing smarter islands and cashless societies to strengthen economies throughout the region.

New report by Mastercard and CB Insights analyzes five trends on how new fintech startups are transforming the global market for underserved consumers and small & medium sized businesses in 2020