Mastercard certifies NymCard as a principal issuer

Mastercard has signed on NymCard, a plug-and-play banking-as-a-service (BaaS) provider, as a principal issuer in the UAE. It’s the the first time a fintech in the UAE has been licensed to issue cards by Mastercard.

Fintechs, startups, enterprises and financial institutions can now plug and play into NymCard’s modern BaaS infrastructure to issue their own Mastercard cards and enable their unique business models much faster.

Through their Principal Mastercard License, NymCard will empower digital partners, enabling them to go live in as little as a few weeks, according to the company.

Ngozi Megwa, SVP, Digital Partnerships, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, Mastercard, said: “Partnerships play a vital role in realising the full potential of the digital economy. We are proud to join hands with NymCard; together, we will deliver industry-leading and scalable payment technology solutions that enable fintechs across the region to quickly and easily issue their own cards through the power of our global network.”

J.K. Khalil, Cluster general manager, MENA East, Mastercard, added: “We are delighted to welcome NymCard as the UAE’s first Principal Mastercard Issuer in the fintech space. We are committed to accelerating the booming fintech market and paving the way for all players to help realise the UAE’s vision to become a global fintech hub.”

“As the only banking-as-a-service (BaaS) provider in the MENA region, our mission is to enable innovators to build, launch and scale payment programs with no friction. Working with Mastercard will enable fast, convenient and cost-efficient card issuing! It represents a real opportunity for us as a fintech enabler to expand our embedded finance capabilities across the whole of MENA,” said Omar Onsi, CEO and Founder, NymCard.

MENA-based Banking as-a-Service (BaaS) provider NymCard have built their tech stack from the ground up and are fully regulated by the central bank of the UAE. They offer FinTechs and other industry innovators the infrastructure to plug and play ready finance into their applications, enabling them to frictionlessly scale their payments programs across multiple markets.

In recent news, Mastercard has tied up with Saudi Arabia-based HyperPay, the ecommerce payments services provider offering services, to expand digital payment rails across the Middle East and North Africa. Mastercard will make a strategic investment in HyperPay to continue enhancing the delivery of its proven capabilities and identify new technologies that can be applied to practical use cases.

Read: HyperPay, Mastercard partner to grow digital payment rails across MENA