The MasterCard Prepaid cards will provide a safer, faster and more convenient alternative to cash

By Eric Akasa

Nakumatt, East Africa’s largest retailer, will introduce the multi-currency EMV MasterCard PayPass Prepaid loyalty card to over one million of its loyalty program members in the coming months.  The collaboration will signal the largest prepaid merchant agreement for MasterCard in the Middle East and Africa region, to date.

The existing Nakumatt Cybercash loyalty card will be replaced with the Nakumatt Global MasterCard Prepaid card, allowing customers to load money onto the card for purchases at POS terminals, cash withdrawals and online purchases at Nakumatt stores across East Africa, and at any retailer that accepts MasterCard payment cards worldwide.

Nakumatt Global MasterCard Prepaid cardholders will also be able to earn Nakumatt loyalty points on purchases they make at any of the 33 million retailers and businesses across 210 countries, where MasterCard is accepted.  Points earned will only be redeemable at Nakumatt stores.

Michael Miebach, president, Middle east and Africa, MasterCard Worldwide commented, “It is our vision to assist the Kenyan economy evolves to operate in a world beyond cash, and collaborations of this nature are vital to achieving this goal.”

“As part of the Nakumatt deal, MasterCard has collaborated with both of Nakumatt’s banking partners, Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB).  The multi-bank partnership will see both banks issuing the MasterCard Prepaid card to the retailer’s customers,” Miebach continued.  “The launch of this innovative retail card will further assist in introducing more financially inclusive payment solutions to those previously not exposed to formal banking products.”

The Nakumatt Global MasterCard Prepaid card features PayPass technology, which is ideal for quick payment environments where speed and convenience matter most.  PayPass is supported by multi-level security protections, including the advanced encryption of PayPass radio frequency transaction transmissions, and the state-of-the art security protections of the MasterCard payment system.

Atul Shah, managing director, Nakumatt commented, “We are excited to introduce a more convenient, quicker and safer payment solution to our loyalty program members.  Working with MasterCard and our banking partners will allow for this goal to come to fruition.”

Nasim Devji, group CEO and managing director, DTB said, “DTB is committed to remaining at the forefront of innovation to extend financial inclusion to Kenyans.  Prepaid cards are the first step in offering the security and convenience of electronic payments, and we are delighted to play such an integral role in the introduction of the Nakumatt Global MasterCard Prepaid card to Kenyans.”

“There has been an exponential growth of prepaid card issuance and usage worldwide,” said Robert Ochola, KCB Director for Strategy and New Business.  “The East Africa market is no exception to this emerging trend.  As a bank we are cognizant of the need to offer our customers an affordable and easy to acquire card that will meet their needs.  It is with this in mind that the bank has taken a decision to partner with Nakumatt and MasterCard to issue the Nakumatt Global MasterCard Prepaid card to meet our customers’ expectations of card payments.”

“The Nakumatt Global MasterCard Prepaid card will initially be launched to our customers in Kenya, but we hope to offer the benefits of cashless transactions to our customers in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan during 2013,” concluded Shah