MasterCard has launched a global initiative dubbed the MasterCard Mobile Money Partnership Program to enable more than 2.5 billion financially underbanked consumers worldwide to have access to mainstream financial services through their mobile phones.

As part of the program, MasterCard has selected global mobile services company Comviva, Sybase 365, a subsidiary of mobile messaging and mobile commerce services company Sybase and Singapore-based mobile financial transaction software company Utiba as platform partners to enable consumers to purchase goods and services via their mobile phones at brick and mortar and online merchants worldwide as well as transfer funds and pay bills.

The partnership enables mobile network operators and financial institutions to expand the development of their financial services offerings to their customers. Comviva, Sybase 365 and Utiba’s mobile money services are set to be deployed by more than 200 telecommunication operators and banks worldwide covering more than one billion consumers.

The Mobile Money Partnership Program provides consumers with MasterCard services including prepaid companion cards that account holders can use at merchants that accept MasterCard cards, virtual card accounts for e-commerce payments, person-to-person payments as well as face-to-face or remote payments using mobile phones for goods and services at merchants that do not have traditional POS acceptance.

In recent news, MasterCard has revealed plans to open a new office in Dublin, Ireland for its technology operations. The expansion, which is supported by IDA Ireland, an agency responsible for industrial development across the country, will create another 130 jobs until 2016 and will bring the total number of people employed by MasterCard in Ireland to approximately 200.