Back to top

Image: Shutterstock

Mastercard (MA) Partners i2c & One Global for MENA FinTechs

Read MoreHide Full Article

Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) recently partnered with two companies, namely One Global and i2c, to boost its presence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, per reports. While the former is a global digital lifestyle services provider, the latter is a payment technology builder in this integrated wallet project. Through this alliance, MA will offer financial solutions to promote the issuance of digital mobile wallets.

The partnership will enable banks, financial technology (FinTech) companies, merchants and wallet providers from the MENA region to offer consumers an easy access to digital-first payment options. The move is expected to reduce time required and complexity for clients, and boost efficiency in program launches. Mastercard and i2c are expected to offer an exchange to exchange (E2E) solution for the FinTech companies in the region. This will help the clients swiftly reach the market.

The move strengthens Mastercard’s relationship with i2c. In 2020, MA created a partnership with i2c to expand its Digital First Card Program in North America.

The move highlights Mastercard’s expanding footprint in the MENA region, which will further ramp up demand for its services. Recently, MA announced a partnership with the growing FinTech company OPay to introduce its digital commerce in the region. Clients can access businesses worldwide with the Mastercard virtual payment solution, linked to the eWallet of OPay.

While businesses are recovering in the MENA region, demand for global and digital payment solutions and services is expected to keep rising. Mastercard’s decision to fortify its base and bring more customers within the scope of digital economy can pay off. It will increase MA’s revenue sources. Management set a target of one billion people to be brought under the ambit of the digital economy by 2025, including 50 million small and micro businesses.

Price Movements

Shares of Mastercard have lost 1.1% in the past six months compared with the industry’s 14.1% decline.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Key Picks

Mastercard currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the Business Services space are TELUS International Inc. (TIXT - Free Report) , Amplitude, Inc. (AMPL - Free Report) and Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP - Free Report) , each presently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

TELUS International’s bottom line for 2022 is expected to jump 20% from the year-ago reading. TIXT has witnessed three upward estimate revisions in the past 30 days against one in the opposite direction. TIXT’s earnings beat estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average being 10.8%.

Amplitude’s revenues for the current year are likely to rise 38.6% from the year-ago reported figure. San Francisco, CA-based AMPL has witnessed four upward estimate revisions in the past 30 days against none in the opposite direction. AMPL’s earnings beat estimates in each of the last three quarters, the average being 43.9%.

The consensus mark for Automatic Data Processing’s 2022 earnings is pegged at $6.97 per share, indicating a 15.8% increase from the year-earlier reported figure. ADP’s earnings beat estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average being 6.2%.

Published in