Ecobank Nigeria Partners MasterCard On Debit Card Issuance

Ecobank Nigeria, a subsidiary of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has signed a 10 year partnership with e-payment service provider, Mastercard for the issuance of debit cards to the bank’s customers in the country.  The Nigerian deal is in line with its licensing agreement with MasterCard in January to provide MasterCard payment solutions in 28 sub-Saharan African nations in January.

MasterCard had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ecobank Group in 2011, through which it would become an issuer of MasterCard products in more than 1,200 branches across Africa.  Ecobank’s Group Executive Director, Domestic Banking, Mr. Patrick Akinwuntan, in a statement said the deal with MasterCard will provide its customers with a ‘best of breed’ solution, combining local market knowledge and proven technological expertise with the economies of scale that derive from access to the leading pan-African payment platform.

The deal will also allow the bank customer to continue to leverage on the security and convenience of electronic payments versus cash and other transaction forms.  “In Nigeria, increased urbanization, a growing labor force and the rise of online shopping are fueling demand for more convenient payments. Using electronic payments to penetrate the country’s unbanked population of nearly 80 million also represents a market with huge, untapped potential,” MD of Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Jubril Aku said.

The adoption of electronic payment through the cashless policy scheme launched in most of the states has helped to limit the amount of cash in circulation and bring banking to the unbanked population in Nigeria.  Consumer education campaigns are also underway in the country to educate customers on the effectiveness and usefulness of electronic banking in a bid to increase their acceptance.

Copyright Ventures Africa 2014