Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) has strengthened its longstanding collaboration with UBL, one of Pakistan’s banks, with a joint investment initiative to facilitate faster and seamless payments for the bank’s cardholders. Through this expansion, UBL’s customers will benefit from enticing offers, innovative features, and convenient services using Mastercard-branded cards.

The extended partnership grants the Pakistan-based bank access to Mastercard’s extensive portfolio of digital products and solutions, including debit and virtual cards. This enables UBL customers to engage in cross-border and e-commerce payments using debit cards, while also leveraging Mastercard’s world-class cyber and intelligence resources.

Additionally, UBL will collaborate with Mastercard Advisors, a consulting service operating in 53 countries across diverse industries, enhancing the overall partnership. The renewed alliance is anticipated to boost card usage, expand Mastercard’s customer base in Pakistan, and increase revenues from its payment network, covering 210-plus countries and territories and over 150 currencies.

For UBL, the collaboration’s expansion is expected to enhance the bank’s capabilities, playing a pivotal role in transforming Pakistan’s payments landscape. The partners, with a history of introducing premium debit and prepaid cards in the country, have a strong bond.

Mastercard’s objective behind this move is to promote widespread digital adoption and strengthen its presence in Pakistan. UBL, with a growing Mastercard-branded debit card portfolio of 1.8 million, aligns well with Mastercard’s digitalization efforts.

The timing of this partnership aligns with the booming digital economy in Pakistan, driven by increased internet penetration and smartphone usage. Mastercard aims to capitalize on this trend through its diverse card offerings, global payment network, and innovative digital solutions.

Mastercard has followed a public-private partnership strategy in Pakistan for over two decades, collaborating with the government and private sector companies to promote digitization across various sectors. These initiatives have helped Mastercard secure a significant share of the nation’s digital payments market.

While shares of Mastercard have gained 16.2% in the past year, outpacing the industry’s 14.9% growth.

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