JazzCash Wins ‘Pioneering Telco to Launch Tap on Phone Award’ at Mastercard Payment Leaders Awards

JazzCash Wins 'Pioneering Telco to Launch Tap on Phone Award'

Dubai, UAE – October 2024: JazzCash, the fintech arm of Pakistan’s leading digital operator Jazz, a VEON Group company, has been recognized with the prestigious ‘Pioneering Telco to Launch Tap on Phone’ award at the Mastercard Payment Leaders Awards. The award ceremony took place during the Mastercard EDGE 2024 event in Dubai.

This accolade highlights JazzCash’s innovative approach, becoming the first in the world to enable over 350,000 merchants and businesses to accept payments through contactless cards or smartphones with just a tap on an NFC-enabled Android device. In partnership with Mastercard, JazzCash is also enabling digital payments through its wallets by simply tapping any contactless device.

Aamir Ibrahim, CEO of Jazz and Chairman of Mobilink Microfinance Bank, received the award from J.K. Khalil, Division President for East Arabia at Mastercard. Speaking at the event, Ibrahim said, “This recognition from Mastercard underscores our relentless commitment to innovation and expanding financial access. Tap Pay is not just a feature; it’s an essential part of our efforts to foster a more inclusive, cashless society, and help formalize the economy. We will continue to lead in transforming Pakistan’s financial services landscape, promoting widespread digital payment adoption.”

J.K. Khalil praised JazzCash’s contributions, stating, “At Mastercard, we are dedicated to building a robust digital payment ecosystem and advancing financial inclusion in Pakistan. JazzCash, as our trusted partner in innovation, is a well-deserved recipient of this award. Through Tap Pay, a low-cost and accessible solution, we are accelerating digital payment acceptance across Pakistan, helping micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) unlock the full potential of the digital economy.”

Despite Pakistan having over 50 million debit and credit cards, the country has only 125,593 point-of-sale (PoS) machines. JazzCash’s Tap Pay is addressing this gap by transforming smartphones into PoS devices, expanding digital payments infrastructure nationwide.

With a customer base of 44 million, JazzCash is driving the transition to a cashless society, in line with the State Bank of Pakistan’s vision for a digitized economy. The platform offers a broad range of services, including nano-lending, savings, and insurance, while remaining committed to providing financial services to unserved and underserved segments of society.

Pakistan is home to nearly 5 million MSMEs, and JazzCash aims to digitize their transactions. The platform processes over 100,000 micro-loans daily, providing crucial financial tools to MSMEs, which are the backbone of Pakistan’s economy but have historically had limited access to formal financial services. JazzCash’s extensive network allows it to digitize over PKR 100 billion in transactions each month.

JazzCash’s Tap Pay feature was made possible through a strategic collaboration with Mastercard, technology partner Wizzit Holdings, and acquiring partner Bank of Punjab. The acceptance partnership with Mastercard will pave the way for JazzCash to introduce new innovations, further fueling the development of a seamless and secure digital commerce ecosystem in Pakistan.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *