Dubai, UAE – October 2024: JazzCash, the fintech arm of Jazz, Pakistan’s leading digital operator and a VEON Group company, has received the esteemed ‘Pioneering Telco to Launch Tap on Phone’ award at the Mastercard Payment Leaders Awards. The ceremony took place at the Mastercard EDGE 2024 event in Dubai, marking another milestone in JazzCash’s innovative journey.
JazzCash made history by becoming the first company worldwide to empower over 350,000 merchants and businesses to accept contactless payments with just a tap on an NFC-enabled Android device. This groundbreaking feature enables digital payments via smartphones and contactless cards, all through the support of its partnership with Mastercard.
Aamir Ibrahim, CEO of Jazz and Chairman of Mobilink Microfinance Bank, accepted the award from J.K. Khalil, Division President for East Arabia at Mastercard. During the event, Ibrahim emphasized the importance of this achievement: “Receiving this recognition from Mastercard highlights our relentless focus on innovation and expanding financial access. Tap Pay isn’t just a feature; it’s a key component of our mission to drive a cashless society and formalize the economy. We’re committed to leading the transformation of Pakistan’s financial services, promoting the widespread adoption of digital payments.”
J.K. Khalil praised JazzCash’s role, stating, “At Mastercard, we are committed to building a strong digital payment ecosystem and promoting financial inclusion in Pakistan. JazzCash, as our innovation partner, fully deserves this award. With Tap Pay, an accessible and low-cost solution, we are accelerating digital payment adoption across the country, particularly helping MSMEs realize their digital potential.”
Although Pakistan boasts over 50 million debit and credit cards, there are only 125,593 point-of-sale (PoS) machines. JazzCash’s Tap Pay directly addresses this shortfall by transforming smartphones into PoS devices, significantly expanding the digital payments infrastructure across the country.
With a 44 million-strong customer base, JazzCash is driving the shift towards a cashless society, in line with the State Bank of Pakistan’s vision for a fully digitized economy. The platform offers a wide array of services, from nano-lending and savings to insurance, all while focusing on providing financial access to underserved segments of the population.
Pakistan is home to nearly 5 million MSMEs, and JazzCash is actively working to digitize their financial transactions. Processing over 100,000 micro-loans daily, JazzCash provides crucial tools to MSMEs, which are the backbone of the nation’s economy but have historically faced limited access to formal financial services. The platform facilitates over PKR 100 billion in monthly transactions through its extensive network.
JazzCash’s Tap Pay was made possible through strategic collaborations with Mastercard, technology partner Wizzit Holdings, and acquiring partner Bank of Punjab. The acceptance partnership with Mastercard opens doors for further innovations, strengthening Pakistan’s digital commerce ecosystem and ensuring secure, seamless digital transactions.
