The face of Zambian banking, National Savings Bank (Natsave), in its quest for digital transformation and financial inclusion, on 13 March inked a strategic partnership agreement with Mastercard. The deal concerns a successful rollout of the famous Mastercard Chip and PIN prepaid and debit cards which align to business and personal needs in an evolving technological world. The deal puts Natsave on the scoreboard of banks that are not only providing transactability but are selling security. A very strategic move for Natsave as it aligns with the need for a digitised payment ecosystem in Africa’s second largest copper producer.
The benefits of smelling the coffee early
Natsave smelt the digital coffee early and have quickly jumped onto the band wagon of the few banks that have agreements with Mastercard. The new cards will feature the latest EMV Chip and PIN payment technology, providing customers with a convenient, globally accepted payment solution with the highest security protection.
Alignment to national financial inclusion
The partnership with Mastercard resonates with the National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2017 to 2022, which aims to increase financial inclusion from 59% to 80%.
We are pleased to embark on a significant new strategic partnership and joint investment programme with Mastercard in our quest to make banking and payments more efficient, secure and convenient for our customers, while reducing their exposure to the safety risks and high transactional costs of handling cash. We envisage that this collaboration will help to contribute to driving digital transformation, financial inclusion and economic development in Zambia, which are top on the agenda for us.
Chief Executive Officer – Mrs. Mukwandi Chibesakunda
Mastercard President of Middle East and Africa – Mr. Raghu Malhotra, at the signing ceremony of a strategic partnership agreement that will see the bank issue safe and globally-accepted Mastercard debit and prepaid cards to its customers in the coming months.
By upgrading to a NatSave Mastercard payment card, the bank’s customers will be able to make safe and simple payments for everyday commerce activities. This includes the ability to withdraw money from Mastercard-licensed ATMs and pay for goods and services at millions of online and physical retailers that accept Mastercard payment cards, both in Zambia and in more than 210 countries and territories worldwide.
“Organisations like Natsave are vital to connecting the underserved market to financial services and the formal economy,” says Mark Elliott, Division President of Mastercard, Southern Africa. “Our collaboration with Natsave in Zambia represents a step forward in our strategy to create a world beyond cash, where the digitization of financial services not only leads to faster, smarter and safer transactions but provides people and businesses with the tools they need to achieve financial security, grow their businesses, and improve quality of life.”
The Business Telegraph’s Chichi Contrucci caught up with Mrs. Chibesakunda on the sidelines of the signing ceremony of the agreement and below is an extract of the Q&A session:
CC: Well done on the MasterCard agreement what next for Natsave in that space?
MC: Thank you. We are excited about the prospect of offering our clients fully fledged card and digital payment solutions. The project is expected to take about 6 months and thereafter we will roll out various products to our esteemed clients.
CC: In a digitized world cybercrime is a migraine for most institutions, what will Natsave do to ensure it is offering and packaging security to clients?
MC: Mastercard has a strong cyber resilience and capability crime prevention team. We will harness their capabilities to mitigate the rising risk.
CC: You recently were awarded, by Africa Magazine UK in the CEOs Hall of Fame and everybody is watching you closely suspecting you have something under your sleeves. What should they expect from Natsave this year?
MC: We keep going – humbly so. We are not yet where we would like to be, but the journey has begun.
CC: Should we expect credit cards anytime soon?
MC: Yes credit cards will come later.
CC: Any last comments?
MC: Let’s enjoy and embrace all these aspects of modern technology – by choice.
****Authored by Oscar Meender*** Edited by Teevan Chiku*****