Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Mastercard (MA) Aids IDB to Drive Digitization Across Egypt

Read MoreHide Full Article

Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) collaborated with Industrial Development Bank (“IDB”) in a bid to diversify the bank’s services suite with an array of financial and supplementary services. The move also reflects MA’s endeavor to drive digitization across Egypt.

Attributable to the tie-up, Mastercard will extend a helping hand to equip IDB in offering an extensive portfolio of cutting-edge solutions across its credit, debit and commercial card proposition. Enhanced offerings are likely to be beneficial to the bank’s client base. Additionally, MA will also aid IDB in bringing about a more customized card experience and endow higher rewards on its card offerings, thereby enabling the bank to tap into new consumer segments.

The world-class expertise and credible practices of Mastercard will be put to use to enable IDB to implement the digital payment strategy of the tech giant. Therefore, the ulterior motive of the collaboration between MA and IDB remains to relieve unbanked consumers from inadequate access to the digital ecosystem and meet the diversified needs of the Egyptian market.  

The latest move reflects Mastercard’s sincere efforts to strengthen its footprint as a leading technology provider across Egypt. The African nation seems to be a favorite spot of Mastercard as it exhibits solid digital growth prospects, thanks to its increased Internet adoption, an expanding tech-savvy young population and higher usage of smartphones. Therefore, the tech giant remains on a spree to occupy a significant share of the digital payments market of Egypt via partnerships with the country’s financial service providers and investments.

This time, IDB seems to be the apt partner to complement Mastercard’s endeavor to bring digital transformation in Egypt as the bank boasts an extensive branch network and diversified customer base throughout the country.

Similar to the latest move, Mastercard inked a long-term cooperation deal with the Egyptian bank, Banque Misr, this March. The tie-up revolved around diversifying the digital payment portfolio of the bank by leveraging the payment technology of the tech giant and providing access to easy-to-use digital solutions for the unbanked segments of Egypt.

In February 2023, Mastercard partnered with Egypt-based Copal to unveil the country’s first payment platform empowering parents to manage the finances of their children. MA also launched Tap-on-Phone service across Egypt, which is an affordable digital payment technology to convert smart devices into safe payment acceptance devices.

Shares of Mastercard have gained 17.2% in the past year compared with the industry’s 13.8% rise. MA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

 

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks in the Business Services space are Barrett Business Services, Inc. (BBSI - Free Report) , SPX Technologies, Inc. (SPXC - Free Report) and Trane Technologies plc (TT - Free Report) . Barrett Business Services sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and SPX Technologies and Trane Technologies carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The bottom line of Barrett Business Services outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 73.95%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BBSI’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 8.6% from the year-ago reported figure. The same for revenues suggests growth of 3.9% from the year-ago reported number. The consensus mark for BBSI’s 2023 earnings has moved 4.7% north in the past 30 days.

SPX Technologies' earnings outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 28.04%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SPXC’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 38.7% from the year-ago reported figure. The same for revenues suggests growth of 20% from the prior-year reading. The consensus mark for SPXC’s 2023 earnings has moved 0.7% north in the past 30 days.

The bottom line of Trane Technologies outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 6.75%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TT’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 22.2% from the year-ago reported figure. The same for revenues suggests growth of 10.6% from the year-ago actuals. The consensus mark for TT’s 2023 earnings has moved 1.4% north in the past 30 days.

Shares of Barrett Business Services, SPX Technologies and Trane Technologies have gained 11.2%, 22.6% and 26.7%, respectively, in the past year. 

Published in