Mastercard Recognizes JazzCash with ‘Pioneering Telco to Launch Tap on Phone’ Award

JazzCash, the fintech arm of Pakistan’s leading digital operator Jazz, a VEON Group company, has received the ‘Pioneering Telco to Launch Tap on Phone’ award at the Mastercard Payment Leaders Awards. The ceremony was held on the sidelines of the Mastercard EDGE 2024 event in Dubai.

The award recognizes JazzCash’s innovative approach, the first of its kind globally, allowing over 350,000 merchants and businesses to accept payments from contactless cards or smartphones with a simple tap on an NFC-enabled Android device. Through its digital front-end partnership with Mastercard, JazzCash wallets can also directly tap and make digital payments with any contactless device.

The acceptance partnership also lays the groundwork for JazzCash to introduce future use cases as Mastercard brings new solutions to market. The innovation-driven collaboration will further fuel the development of a seamless and secure digital commerce sector for Pakistan.

J.K. Khalil, Division President for East Arabia at Mastercard, presented the award to Aamir Ibrahim, CEO of Jazz and Chairman of Mobilink Microfinance Bank. Speaking at the event, Aamir Ibrahim said: “This recognition by Mastercard is a testament to our relentless pursuit of innovation and our commitment to making financial services accessible for all. Tap Pay is not just a feature; it’s a key part of our efforts to cultivate a more inclusive, cashless society and a documented economy. We will continue to lead the way in transforming Pakistan’s financial services landscape and paving the way for the widespread adoption of digital payments.”

J.K. Khalil said: “At Mastercard, we are committed to building a robust digital payment ecosystem and enhancing financial inclusion in Pakistan. As our trusted partner in innovation, JazzCash is a well-deserving recipient of our Payment Leaders Award. Together, we are leveraging Tap Pay, a low-cost, simple and accessible payment acceptance solution powered by Mastercard, to accelerate acceptance and tap into Pakistan’s enormous potential. This way, we are enabling micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to reap the full benefits of the digital economy.”

Despite the presence of approximately 50.37 million debit and credit cards in Pakistan, there are only 125,593 point-of-sale (PoS) machines. With Tap Pay, JazzCash is bridging a critical payment acceptance infrastructure gap by transforming the smartphones of 350,000 merchants into PoS machines, thereby expanding digital payments outreach to virtually every part of the country.

With a customer base of 44 million, JazzCash is driving the shift towards a cashless society, aligned with the State Bank of Pakistan and government’s vision for a digitized economy. The platform offers a comprehensive range of services, from nano-lending and savings to insurance, and remains committed to expanding financial services to unserved and underserved segments of society.

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

JazzCash’s Tap Pay feature has been made possible through a strategic collaboration with Mastercard, technology partner Wizzit Holdings, and acquiring partner Bank of Punjab.