In a move aimed at strengthening the Kingdom's cashless ecosystem through innovative payment technologies, Mastercard, a leading technology company in the global payments industry, has launched its global digital payment service, Masterpass, in Saudi Arabia. The National Commercial Bank (NCB) is the first bank in the Kingdom to offer the service to its customers. Masterpass is a simple, convenient and trusted digital payment service for faster safe shopping at thousands of retailers – online, in-app or in-store. With Masterpass, consumers can make intuitive and secure purchases across devices, channels and borders from a single trusted solution. "Masterpass is a revolutionary payments technology that has transformed the way we shop and make payments. The launch of Masterpass in Saudi Arabia comes at a time when the retail and e-commerce industry in the Kingdom is at the cusp of a number of significant developments including a strong shift towards electronic payments. Moreover, as part of Saudi Vision 2030, advancements in technology are set to play a defining role in driving long-term social and economic growth, and Masterpass, as an industry-leading innovative solution, represents the future of payments," said Basel El-Tell, General Manager, Saudi Arabia and Levant, Mastercard. "NCB, the leading card issuer in the Kingdom, is constantly innovating its credit and prepaid card products to ensure the best experience and benefits, including the highly popular LAK loyalty program, for its cardholders. The introduction of Masterpass is another good example of such innovation whereby NCB's cardholders can now enjoy secure online transactions with a simple click on the Masterpass button. NCB continues to be a true driving force in promoting a cashless society as NCB eCommerce transactions has grown in 2017 by almost 200% and cements its footing as a premier provider of Digital Services. This step will further emphasize our ‘Mobile First' Digital Strategy to enrich our clients' experience in the Kingdom", said Hamed Fayez, Senior Executive Vice President, Head of Retail Banking Group, The National Commercial Bank. By implementing the Masterpass digital payment service, NCB's credit and prepaid cardholders will register their cards once and thereafter enjoy the convenience of completing their online purchases with just a click on the Masterpass button. Apart from convenience, the elimination of storing card details with multiple online merchants and the multi-layer cutting-edge security provided by Mastercard provide peace of mind to NCB's cardholders. Masterpass is also an easy choice for merchants owing to the service's many features including access to a larger consumer base through Masterpass' global network, greater transaction security across channels, improved and consistent cross-channel checkout experiences for consumers, and implementation support provided by Mastercard. Masterpass is now available in more than 37 markets internationally and the digital payment service is accepted by more than 340,000 merchants to enable online and in-app purchases, and at more than 6.5 million merchant locations in 97 countries that accept contactless payments.
