BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 6. The main priorities of Mastercard's activity in Kazakhstan are increasing the volume of issuance and transactions involving Mastercard cards, providing banks with full access to expertise and international experience, developing financial inclusion in Kazakhstan, and introducing innovative products and services, CEO of Mastercard in Central Asia, Rafal Trepka, told Trend.
Mastercard has been operating in Kazakhstan since the mid-90s, and in 2012 opened an office in Almaty. Last year the company celebrated the 10th anniversary of its activity in the country.
"During these years Mastercard has been actively working with the National Bank, second-tier banks and many fintech and other organizations. Mastercard's partner banks include leading banks in Kazakhstan, such as “Al Hilal”, “Altyn Bank”, “Eurasian Bank”, “Freedom Finance Kazakhstan”, “ForteBank”, “Halyk Bank”, “Jusan”, “Kaspi”, National Postal Operator "Kazpost" and others. We continue to connect new banks, and we are working hard to introduce technological and product innovations with partner banks," he said.
According to the CEO, currently, the company is doing projects with government agencies, fintech and other technology companies, and trade enterprises, both offline and online.
"Cybersecurity is our number one priority, we also work hard to develop loyalty products, conduct research, and provide consulting services. Over the years, we have greatly expanded the range of services for the premium segment, updated recently. Now premium card holders can use not only insurance, business lounge at the airport, and concierge service, but also insure relatives and family assistants, a rented car, use the fast track service at airports around the world, and special offers in other countries," said Trepka.
Furthermore, he noted that the company is ready to help all interested market participants with its experience and technologies. In his opinion, despite the explosive growth of cashless payments in Kazakhstan in recent years, there is still a very large field for the introduction of both financial and non-financial solutions in the country.
As for the ongoing projects in the field of human capital, the CEO noted that there are a lot of initiatives implemented by the company. As he noted, since a large proportion of the population of Kazakhstan is young people, Mastercard pays great attention to supporting education.
"Mastercard is expanding access to its Girls4Tech STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) curriculum for 8-12-year-olds, which we have translated into Kazakh. The company cooperates with the world's largest youth organization AIESEC, annually conducting internships for students. Young people not only get valuable experience but also do projects that really develop Mastercard's business in Kazakhstan. This helps the realization of human potential and the development of the children’s leadership skills," he said.
Trepka also touched on the matter of following the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) agenda.
"Of course, Mastercard actively supports the ESG agenda. For example, one of our goals is to plant 100 million trees around the world by 2025 and help partners grow in this direction. In Kazakhstan, together with the Eurasian Bank, the Eurasian Environmental Fund (EEF), and the Almaty Green Economy Department, we are collaborating on environmental projects to reduce the carbon footprint in Almaty. As the first project, an alley was planted in the recreational area of Esentai River in Almaty," the CEO added.
He also added that the Eurasian Bank, together with Mastercard, issued the first eco-card in Kazakhstan made from recycled plastic, which enables everyone to support greening and waste sorting in the country through contributions from each transaction to the environmental fund.
