Mastercard Holds Its 2nd Community Pass Summit

Mastercard has held the second edition of its annual Community Pass Customer Summit in Kampala, Uganda gathering more than 90 public and private sector partners and featuring over 20 thought leaders.

The summit showcased over 10 cutting-edge technologies and financial institutions, each presenting their digital solutions designed to include underserved communities across the agriculture, health, micro-commerce, and education. The event also featured interactive panel discussions focusing on the impact of digital technology in promoting service delivery and economic growth in remote areas.

As a change catalyst, the summit redefined the delivery of digital and financial services to underserved communities. Leveraging Mastercard’s core capabilities, Community Pass is a shared interoperable platform that provides digital infrastructure to both public and private sector players to serve marginalized and frequently offline communities.

The platform provides a commercially sustainable approach to scaling service delivery and increasing access to critical services including agriculture, healthcare, and micro-commerce. Community Pass is growing and has already reached nearly 5 million users globally in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and India.

Speaking during the summit, Tara Nathan, EVP and Founder of Mastercard Community Pass underscored the event’s transformative potential.

“Community Pass is not just a digital platform, it’s a catalyst for change, effectively bridging the gap between underserved communities and essential services. We are excited about coming together to showcase our shared dedication to enhancing digital and financial access, with a focus on addressing the specific needs of our users,” Nathan said.

Kicking off the year with continued momentum, the Community Pass team announced three major collaborations: the launch of the Yojana card, powered by Community Pass and in collaboration with Haqdarshak Empowerment Solutions in India; a collaboration with Shell Foundation and Co-operative Bank of Kenya to provide below-market interest rates to smallholder farmers against lending for green technology; and the reveal of Equity Bank of Uganda’s financial inclusion card. These collaborations are anticipated to drive significant changes in digital and financial inclusion for smallholder farmers and rural communities.

Daniel Huba, Vice President, Community Pass Market Development, Sub-Saharan Africa at Mastercard, emphasized the platform’s significance in the continent.

“Community Pass goes beyond connectivity; it’s about fostering sustainable economic opportunities and welcoming digitally excluded individuals into the formal digital economy. This year’s Summit is a critical move towards this vision, aiming to make digital tools and solutions universally accessible in Africa’s evolving economy,” Huba remarked.