JazzCash has been honored with the prestigious ‘Pioneering Telco to Launch Tap on Phone’ award at the Mastercard Payment Leaders Awards, held on the sidelines of the Mastercard EDGE 2024 event in Dubai. This accolade recognizes JazzCash’s innovative approach in enabling merchants and businesses to accept payments with just a tap on an NFC-enabled Android device, a first-of-its-kind solution on a global scale.
The award highlights JazzCash’s commitment to revolutionizing the digital payments landscape in Pakistan. The service allows over 350,000 merchants across the country to seamlessly accept payments from contactless cards or smartphones, removing the need for traditional point-of-sale (PoS) machines. Through a digital front-end partnership with Mastercard, JazzCash wallets can also tap directly and make digital payments with any contactless device, a feature that simplifies the payment process for users and businesses alike.
This initiative, in collaboration with Mastercard, not only addresses immediate payment acceptance needs but also lays the groundwork for future innovations in digital commerce. The partnership aims to introduce new use cases as Mastercard continues to bring advanced payment solutions to the market. This will further drive the growth of a secure and seamless digital commerce sector in Pakistan.
During the award presentation, Aamir Ibrahim, CEO of Jazz, expressed his gratitude, stating, “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, Division President East Arabia at Mastercard, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the importance of fostering financial inclusion. He remarked, “At Mastercard, we are committed to building a robust digital payment ecosystem and enhancing financial inclusion in Pakistan. JazzCash is a well-deserving recipient of our Payment Leaders Award. Together, we are leveraging Tap Pay, a low-cost, simple, and accessible payment solution, to accelerate acceptance and unlock Pakistan’s enormous potential for digital growth.”
Despite the existence of over 50 million debit and credit cards in Pakistan, the country has only 125,593 PoS machines. This gap in payment infrastructure has long been a challenge for the nation’s digital economy. JazzCash’s Tap Pay solution, by turning merchants’ smartphones into PoS machines, offers a breakthrough that expands the reach of digital payments into previously underserved areas of the country.
JazzCash, which has a customer base of 44 million, is driving the shift toward a cashless society, aligning its efforts with the State Bank of Pakistan and the government’s vision for a digitized economy. The platform provides a range of financial services, including nano-lending, savings, and insurance, aimed at expanding access to formal financial services for the country’s underserved and unbanked populations.
With around 5 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Pakistan, JazzCash is determined to digitize their financial transactions. The platform processes over 100,000 micro loans daily, offering much-needed financial support to MSMEs, which form the backbone of Pakistan’s economy. JazzCash’s extensive network currently enables the digitization of over PKR 100 billion per month, contributing significantly to the country’s push towards a more formalized economy.
The successful implementation of Tap Pay is the result of a strategic collaboration between JazzCash, Mastercard, technology partner Wizzit Holdings, and acquiring partner Bank of Punjab. This partnership represents a significant step forward in empowering Pakistan’s digital economy and ensuring that digital payments are accessible to all.
