BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 13. Using MasterCard's advanced technologies and global experience, we have implemented many projects in cooperation with transport companies and national carriers in the field of public transport throughout Kazakhstan, Rafal Trepka, CEO of Mastercard in Central Asia, told Trend.
"Having started work on introducing cashless payment in public transport in 2015, when the world's 5th contactless cashless fare payment system was launched in Almaty subway, Mastercard continues to implement solutions for public transport," he said.
According to Rafal Trepka, in Kazakhstani cities, in collaboration with local partners, projects are being launched to pay for travel with bank cards.
"We launch various promotions for cardholders to support cashless payment on public transport. For example, together with the Almaty Subway, we announced that by the end of 2023, when paying with smartphones and smartwatches that support Google Pay, Apple Pay, or Samsung Pay, to which a Mastercard is linked, the fare will cost only 5 tenge (about $0.01), instead of 100 tenge (about $0.21). Such promotions provide customers with the opportunity not only to appreciate the convenience, speed, and security of payments through mobile devices with Mastercard cards but also to significantly save on daily expenses," he noted.
Earlier, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan and Mastercard signed a Cooperation Agreement under which Mastercard, with the advisory support of the Ministry, intends to develop and implement a five-year digital partnership program in Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan Digital Country Partnership).
Cooperation will include initiatives such as: promoting the Kazakh GovTech model through Mastercard's global network; increasing access to financial services through digitalization of payments in various areas; cooperation in the promotion and development of IT exports, e-commerce, digitalization of SMEs, and the fintech ecosystem; supporting Kazakhstan's smart cities program, with a particular emphasis on the tourism and urban transportation sectors; and so on.