Mastercard has partnered with fintech WiPay as both companies strive to establish a strong foothold in the Caribbean region.

As part of the partnership, the entities will collaborate to drive greater financial inclusion in the region through a suite of payment and acceptance solutions.

According to Mastercard, WiPay will partner with local financial institutions to strengthen digital ecosystems and facilitate seamless disbursements of funds for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and citizens.

This includes leveraging Mastercard’s Bank in the Box solution to empower (SMEs) through card acceptance, and payment solutions for government programmes.

Bank in the Box refers to the end-to-end solution for financially excluded SMEs that do not accept card payments.

“We found in WiPay a knowledgeable partner to bring our vision to life and are excited to partner with them to bring these robust solutions to the market,” stated Marcelo Tangioni, Mastercard’s Caribbean Division president on the partnership.

“This important partnership builds on our commitment to lead the journey towards developing smarter islands and cashless societies to strengthen economies and increase financial inclusion throughout the region,” he continued.

Chief executive officer of WiPay Aldwyn Wayne highlighted the benefits of said partnership within the Caribbean sphere.

“This partnership is huge for the Caribbean as it allows WiPay to accelerate financial inclusion by delivering innovative financial products to the unbanked and underbanked of the region. On a macro level, it enables WiPay’s regional settlement network to run on Mastercard’s payment rails, improving the ease of doing business in the Caribbean, particularly within the Caricom Single arket and Economy region (CSME),” he emphasised.

The collaborative solutions will launch in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago initially, with roll-outs in Grenada, Guyana, Dominica, Barbados, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent, and in The Bahamas, among others in the near future.