Mastercard launches Bank in the Box for micro and small businesses
MASTERCARD has launched its “Bank in the Box” initiative which is a solution designed to unlock significant opportunities within cash dominant industries, enabling micro and small businesses to expand their payment options and accept cards.
The initiative was launched in Jamaica as a part of Mastercard’s commitment to support local micro and small enterprises, to enhance the local tourism industry and the experience of cardholders visiting the country.
Studies by Mastercard in Latin America and Caribbean show there are an estimated 25 million micro and small businesses in the region, yet 70 per cent of those businesses do not accept electronic forms of payment, missing out on card transactions that are on average, two to four times higher than cash transactions.
Micro and small businesses are the backbone of the Jamaican economy. However, they are still financially underserved, a problem Mastercard aims to remedy with the introduction of “Bank in the Box”.
“Mastercard is excited to explore this initiative in Jamaica. We strongly believe that small merchants and individual entrepreneurs are key players to foster financial inclusion,” said Ray Merceron, Mastercard country manager for the English Caribbean.
The Bank in the Box helps business owners simplify and optimise the way they sell, buy and operate. The kit contains a mobile card reader that works with any smartphone and a Mastercard debit card, enabling merchants to begin accepting electronic payments.
For tourism entrepreneurs, facilitating electronic payments increases their customer service rating by accommodating a payment option many guests are accustomed to using in their home countries. Additionally, card payments are recognised as safer and more convenient than cash – a direct benefit to the merchant.
The Bank in the Box solution has been successfully introduced in Bermuda and the Bahamas, with hundreds of tourism entrepreneurs in those countries adding “all cards accepted here” to their business payment options. Mastercard’s global payments processing network connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories.
