Bank of Punjab inks agreement with Mastercard to become credit card issuer, acquirer

Punjab, Pakistan — The Bank of Punjab (BOP), a Pakistan-based financial institution, has signed an agreement with Mastercard, the leading tech company in the global payments industry. The collaboration will see the bank’s customers in the region and across the globe benefit from a new range of electronic payment products.

The agreement will see BOP issuing Mastercard debit and credit cards to its customers and enable point-of-sale and e-commerce acquiring, utilizing Mastercard’s industry-leading Mastercard Payment Gateway Services platform.

Representatives from both parties attended the ceremony, namely from BOP; Zahid Mustafa, group chief of consumer and digital banking, Asim Qureshi, head of cards, and Syed Shahzad Shahid, head of customers, among others. From Mastercard, a notable attendee was J.K. Khalil, country GM for MENA east of Mastercard.

Addressing the participants, Mustafa said, “Cards and payments are critical components of our digital banking strategy to provide ease and convenience to our customers. We have developed a strong value of proposition for our cards with the help of Mastercard as we seek to give value to our customers with our transactions.”

Mustafa added, “We are bringing learnings from international markets to Pakistan and partnership with Mastercard is playing a pivotal role in the digitization of retail, as well as government initiatives.”

Meanwhile, Khalil shared some insights of his own, saying, “Pakistan is fast embracing digital payments and the endless opportunities it presents to people and communities. We are delighted to deepen our long-standing partnership with The Bank of Punjab through this milestone launch.”