MasterCard, Microsoft to promote financial inclusion of micro businesses

The partnership considers actions focused on the micro merchant segment to make greater use of electronic payments and to encourage the legality and formality of technological products and services. In addition, the alliance will promote financial inclusion via the technological network of MasterCard and technology of Microsoft, provide access to specialized content related to technology and productivity in businesses, and grant access to on-line training to develop new business skills.

Under the partnership, Microsoft and MasterCard will develop a number of projects. The first one focuses on the integration of financial products and technological solutions (both organizations will work with important financial companies to design and provide new products integrated to Microsoft technological solutions).

The second one regards projects with the public sector. Therefore, Microsoft and MasterCard will collaborate with the Federal Government and with various State Governments to design, build, and implement comprehensive projects. The Federal Government, the Ministry of Economy and the INADEM (National Entrepreneur Institute) will play an essential role in obtaining the funds required and ensuring that the tools reach micro merchants without the need of investing their own resources. Basic business management training will also be provided. The third project pays attention to platform integration, as in this initiative, Microsoft and MasterCard will integrate their platforms to ensure that new forms of payment applications work on Microsoft platforms.

Both companies will also assess potential synergies in the development of new technologies for payments. These platforms are oriented to provide solutions and products for the entrepreneurial sector, covering the whole range, from large corporations to microbusinesses.

Through this partnership, MasterCard customers will have access to different Microsoft products – software and hardware included – such as Office 365, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, devices with Windows 8 and smartphones, which will act as point-of-sale terminals.

In recent news, Egypt’s government has signed an agreement with MasterCard on a national ID programme that aims to make financial services available to 54 million citizens.