Mastercard (NYSE: MA) is partnering with Bankiom, a UAE-based lifestyle banking app, to introduce digital payment cards across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman.
This partnership marks “a significant stride in Mastercard‘s ongoing commitment to advancing digitalization in the payments landscape throughout the region.”
Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President Market Development, EEMEA, Mastercard, said:
“As we move into a more digital world, building productive synergies with multi-market, agile fintech partners such as Bankiom is crucial. The GCC alone has one of the world’s highest rates of internet penetration at 98% of the region’s population. Our partnership will help us leverage our innovative payment solutions to drive digital and financial inclusion across the region.”
Danny Abla, Founder of Bankiom, said:
“Bankiom is building a digital bank for that moment in your life where you want to live life to the max, and we’re calling it PuraVida. Think of it as a subscription to the ‘good life’. Our mission is to spread happiness through financial services; so partnering with Mastercard, especially with their Priceless brand, was a no brainer for us. We both share the same mission and we both share the same passion to deliver amazing, memorable life experiences for our customers.”
Launched in March 2022, Bankiom reportedly “has more than 30,000 verified users and is growing at 20% per week, with a target to hit 1 million within three years.”
Bankiom, through PuraVida and in collaboration with Mastercard, is “tapping into the evolving needs of a vibrant, tech-savvy generation and empowering them to live life to the fullest.”
As noted in the update, Mastercard is “a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible.”
Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, their innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential.
Their decency quotient, or DQ, drives their culture and everything they “do inside and outside of our company.”
With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, they are “building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.”