Mastercard joins Paycode to ease ID checks for cash payments

September 15, 2021 in Financial Services, Investment by Editor

Community Pass allows a person’s face or palm to be recognized at both online and offline locations.

An estimated 57 pc of the population in Sub Saharan Africa remains financially excluded while close to 30 pc remain without a form of identification and 60 percent of the continent has no internet connectivity, leaving these individuals unable to access government assistance and basic financial services.

To address these challenges, Mastercard has partnered with African fintech and Start Path company Paycode to provide both company’s offerings on one biometric smart card that will help increase access to critical services and advance economic inclusion for Africans living in remote communities.

Ricardo Pareja, SVP, Sales & Market Development, H&D for Mastercard said recently, “Adding Inclusive ID functionality to Paycode biometric smart cards helps reach those currently excluded from critical government programs and ensures we are addressing basic financial needs of a dispersed population. As we seek to drive beyond inclusion to fostering prosperity in communities across the globe, a critical focus for Mastercard is to help enable the interoperability and scale of solutions like those provided by Paycode.”

“As Paycode we are proud to partner with global leaders like Mastercard to effect positive change for people on the ground and drive innovation in financial services delivery in deep rural areas. As leaders in last mile delivery and proof of life financial services technology, we play the important role of providing solutions that bring tremendous growth and financial access offline in real-time to the financial and technology sectors in Africa,” Ralph Pecker, CEO at Paycode said.

Together, Paycode and Mastercard deliver a path to prosperity, enabling users to manage day-to-day needs including paying school fees for children, getting vaccinations for their families, selling goods, and growing their businesses. To enable this, Community Pass allows a person’s face or palm to be recognized at both online and offline locations, while ensuring best-in-class security of their individual data. Community Pass also leverages consistent technology standards so that an individual can seamlessly access financial, health, agricultural, or aid services across providers, including government disbursements.

The partnership’s goal is to onboard 30 million individuals living in remote, unconnected areas of Africa over the next three years, enabling them to access the products and services they need with a Community Pass biometric smart card that runs on Paycode’s EDAPT platform.

Last year, Mastercard pledged to connect 1 billion people, including 50 million micro and small businesses, to the digital economy by 2025. As part of these efforts, the technology company has a direct focus on providing 25 million women entrepreneurs with solutions to grow their businesses.

Paycode’s mission is to give biometric identity and affordable access to basic financial services to over 50 million unbanked and underserved people in Africa by 2025. Paycode already operates in several countries across Africa, including Botswana, Ghana, Guinea, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia.

AFRICAfinancial servicesID palm readerMastercard financial inclusionPaycode