Jingle Pay Launches Mastercard for Unbanked UAE Residents

Jingle Pay has partnered with Mastercard to issue physical and virtual cards to users of its financial app.

The Dubai-based FinTech said in a Tuesday (Nov. 29) press release that the move centers on financial inclusion, aiming to provide a new accessible digital payment solution to the 1.7 million people in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who are currently unbanked.

“Through this partnership, Jingle Pay will launch physical and virtual cards to facilitate everyday transactions for people whether or not they have a bank account,” per the release.

“Fintechs like Jingle Pay are playing a vital role in supporting the UAE’s digital transformation journey, and this partnership will further ensure that more people can enjoy the safety and convenience of digital payments as we work towards inclusion for all,” Mastercard Cluster General Manager, MENA East J.K. Khalil said in the release.

“Our partnership with Mastercard furthers our cause of financial inclusion,” Jingle Pay founder and CEO Amir Fardghassemi said in the announcement. “It builds on our unique remittance and money transfer capabilities, offering users more powerful and easier ways of spending their funds from the Jingle Pay mobile application.”

Jingle Pay is “committed to extending digital financial services to the world’s underserved population to improve security and equality,” Fardghassemi said.

In a recent interview with PYMNTS, Fardghassemi said Jingle Pay’s main proposition has been a remittance marketplace that allows users to shop around for the best price when sending money across borders. He said uptake among the UAE’s large expatriate population has helped fuel the app’s success.

Watch the interview: Remittance Marketplace Model Unlocks Payments Innovation for GCC Expats

Discussing the integration of MoneyGram’s cross-border payment rails into the Jingle Pay platform, Fardghassemi said, “the more providers you have, and the players like MoneyGram … make the whole proposition a bit more interesting because there are more options to choose from.”