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Mastercard (MA) to Partner With Jeeves, Boost Mexico Presence
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Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) recently announced that it is partnering with global financial technology (FinTech) startup Jeeves to launch the first physical card in Mexico, which will enable clients to pay in any currency where Mastercard is operating.
The Mexican economy is currently witnessing a rapid recovery, which, in turn, is boosting demand for credit. Local businesses and startups are facing high fees and lengthy paper works for credit access. As such, Mastercard’s deal with Jeeves will provide clients with easy solutions, cashback opportunities and secure cross-border transactions. Jeeves started its journey in Mexico early this year and has already incorporated more than 700 businesses in the country.
Partnering with Jeeves will expand Mastercard’s presence in the Latin American market, wherein it has made several deals in the past few months. Recently, it acquired Mexico-based financial technology platform Arcus FI, which provides various bill payment solutions and cash-in, cash-out services to different types of customers including retailers as well as FinTechs in the United States and Mexico. These moves will ramp up the demand for Mastercard’s services.
While businesses are recovering in the Latin American market, the demand for global and digital payments solutions is expected to keep rising. Given this backdrop, Mastercard’s decision to boost its presence and bring more customers in the digital economy can be a fruitful one. It will increase the company’s revenue sources. The partnership with Jeeves is in line with MA’s global commitment of connecting 1 billion people and 50 million micro and small businesses under the ambit of a growing digital economy within 2025.
The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company has made similar moves in the past few weeks to enhance its presence in the growing economies. It has joined forces with Trinidad & Tobago International Financial Centre in a bid to provide digital solutions, which will ramp up digital growth across the country. Also, it has expanded its footprint in Somalia through collaborations with MyBank and Network International.
The rising demand for digital and global payment solutions is being addressed by many other players in the market as well. Companies like American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) , Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) and The Western Union Company (WU - Free Report) are also ramping up efforts to capitalize on the growing markets.
American Express, based in NY, made a move in small business banking by acquiring Kabbage, which is an online lender. A large chunk of AmEx’s customers consists of small businesses, which suffered the maximum blow from the pandemic. Now that things are looking up and small businesses are rebounding, the company’s products are likely to see a surge in demand. It recently joined forces with Fujitsu in a bid to offer an expense management solution for centralizing and boosting digital transformation for all Fujitsu offices, and group companies. AXP’s bottom line for 2021 is expected to jump 72.7% year over year.
San Francisco, CA-based Visa is making the best use of mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, and minority investments to achieve inorganic growth. This strategy has helped the company maintain its leading position in the payment network space. Visa enjoys strong cash and available-for-sale investment position along with solid free cash flow, which supports the acquisitions. Also, Visa continues to invest in technology to further minimize the impact of fraud and protect consumer and merchant information. This makes V a safe choice for clients. Its earnings in 2021 are expected to rise 19.1% from the year-ago period.
Denver, CO-based Western Union enjoys a robust digital arm, thanks to several digital partnerships and investments. The company is building a solid digital services portfolio and digitizing the money movement process for clients. WU is also boosting the efficiency of operations and remains on track to achieve annual cost savings of $150 million by 2022. Western Union expects constant-currency revenue growth of 3-4% for 2021, indicating a turnaround from a 3% decline in 2020. Its bottom line will likely increase 11.2% year over year.
Price Movements
Shares of Mastercard have lost 3.7% over a year compared with the industry’s 23.3% decline.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
While shares of American Express have gained 32.2% during this time period, Visa and Western Union have lost 6% and 27.3%, respectively.
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Mastercard (MA) to Partner With Jeeves, Boost Mexico Presence
Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) recently announced that it is partnering with global financial technology (FinTech) startup Jeeves to launch the first physical card in Mexico, which will enable clients to pay in any currency where Mastercard is operating.
The Mexican economy is currently witnessing a rapid recovery, which, in turn, is boosting demand for credit. Local businesses and startups are facing high fees and lengthy paper works for credit access. As such, Mastercard’s deal with Jeeves will provide clients with easy solutions, cashback opportunities and secure cross-border transactions. Jeeves started its journey in Mexico early this year and has already incorporated more than 700 businesses in the country.
Partnering with Jeeves will expand Mastercard’s presence in the Latin American market, wherein it has made several deals in the past few months. Recently, it acquired Mexico-based financial technology platform Arcus FI, which provides various bill payment solutions and cash-in, cash-out services to different types of customers including retailers as well as FinTechs in the United States and Mexico. These moves will ramp up the demand for Mastercard’s services.
While businesses are recovering in the Latin American market, the demand for global and digital payments solutions is expected to keep rising. Given this backdrop, Mastercard’s decision to boost its presence and bring more customers in the digital economy can be a fruitful one. It will increase the company’s revenue sources. The partnership with Jeeves is in line with MA’s global commitment of connecting 1 billion people and 50 million micro and small businesses under the ambit of a growing digital economy within 2025.
The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company has made similar moves in the past few weeks to enhance its presence in the growing economies. It has joined forces with Trinidad & Tobago International Financial Centre in a bid to provide digital solutions, which will ramp up digital growth across the country. Also, it has expanded its footprint in Somalia through collaborations with MyBank and Network International.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Final Thoughts
The rising demand for digital and global payment solutions is being addressed by many other players in the market as well. Companies like American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) , Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) and The Western Union Company (WU - Free Report) are also ramping up efforts to capitalize on the growing markets.
American Express, based in NY, made a move in small business banking by acquiring Kabbage, which is an online lender. A large chunk of AmEx’s customers consists of small businesses, which suffered the maximum blow from the pandemic. Now that things are looking up and small businesses are rebounding, the company’s products are likely to see a surge in demand. It recently joined forces with Fujitsu in a bid to offer an expense management solution for centralizing and boosting digital transformation for all Fujitsu offices, and group companies. AXP’s bottom line for 2021 is expected to jump 72.7% year over year.
San Francisco, CA-based Visa is making the best use of mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, and minority investments to achieve inorganic growth. This strategy has helped the company maintain its leading position in the payment network space. Visa enjoys strong cash and available-for-sale investment position along with solid free cash flow, which supports the acquisitions. Also, Visa continues to invest in technology to further minimize the impact of fraud and protect consumer and merchant information. This makes V a safe choice for clients. Its earnings in 2021 are expected to rise 19.1% from the year-ago period.
Denver, CO-based Western Union enjoys a robust digital arm, thanks to several digital partnerships and investments. The company is building a solid digital services portfolio and digitizing the money movement process for clients. WU is also boosting the efficiency of operations and remains on track to achieve annual cost savings of $150 million by 2022. Western Union expects constant-currency revenue growth of 3-4% for 2021, indicating a turnaround from a 3% decline in 2020. Its bottom line will likely increase 11.2% year over year.
Price Movements
Shares of Mastercard have lost 3.7% over a year compared with the industry’s 23.3% decline.
While shares of American Express have gained 32.2% during this time period, Visa and Western Union have lost 6% and 27.3%, respectively.