Ecommerce digital platform ZoodPay has entered into a partnership with Mastercard to launch a “first-of-its-kind’ prepaid virtual instalment card. 

The pairing companies will look to bolster the adoption of BNPL payment tools across the Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions, with an additional aim to expand financial and digital inclusion. 

ZoodPay underlined the importance of benefitting the underbanked population and those with no access to credit data or limited finance as a main priority when partnering with the card network giant. 

Michael Khoi, CEO of ZoodPay, said: “Our partnership with Mastercard will go a long way in shaping the future of digital payments across emerging markets. 

“We are looking forward to the launch of a holistic suite of fintech services for consumers, merchants, micro and small and medium enterprises, helping the unbanked population access the financial ecosystem.”

The partnership will allow ZoodPay to scale its BNPL offering to customers and merchants in multiple jurisdictions without the need to be limited exclusively to the ZoodPay network, to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and consumers alike. 

SMEs a part of the ZoodPay ecosystem will also be able to connect to Mastercard’s merchant network which aims to foster end-to-end digitisation, as well as product onboarding, last-mile delivery and a host of distribution channels. 

Mastercard will help supplement these offerings by providing access to a wide range of merchants, innovative payment methods, and ‘state-of-the-art’ technical infrastructure to enhance enablement and scalability. 

“Consumers and merchants want choice and safety when it comes to payments. By partnering with ZoodPay, we are leveraging our technology to enable these payments in a digitally secure way,” added Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President, Market Development at Mastercard EEMEA. 

ZoodPay states it has 4,000 online and offline merchants within its proprietary marketplace, which hosts over 10 million people. 

Its latest partnership with Mastercard can serve up to 300 million people, including 5 million SMEs, providing access to its  BNPL options as well as its loan systems.