Addressing concerns regarding lower levels of focus being given to Caribbean markets when compared to its Latin America counterparts, Mastercard’s country manager for Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Dalton Fowles has sought to make it clear that all customers across the LAC region is of equal importance to the global payments company.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer during this year’s staging of the flagship Mastercard LAC Innovation forum, he said that the Caribbean bears great significance for the payments giant, possessing a treasure trove of untapped potential.

“The Caribbean collectively is a huge market made up of the Spanish, English, French and Dutch. It is a $450-billion economy which makes it very significant to Mastercard and we will continue to work with all our stakeholders. The company takes this region very seriously and we believe there are lots of opportunities to drive digital and financial inclusion in several of its markets where cash to gross domestic product (GDP) continues to remain high, so there is lots of opportunity to build on the secular shift we have started to see as payments evolve in the digital space,” he told the BusinessWeek.

Backed by a growing network of offices in the region, Mastercard had previously set an ambitious target to more than double its market share by this year. Tight-lipped however on what these numbers currently look like, Fowles said all indicators point to some growth in acceptance in Caribbean markets though there remains room for further improvement. This, while purchase volumes in Latin America has continued to witness significant increases, growing above 100 per cent or more than US$500 billion last year.

With an accelerated push to tap into more sectors through digitisation, Fowles cited government social disbursements atop those having huge opportunities for development.

“There are also lots of opportunities in the micro business segment, especially as we look to bring more of these people into the formal economy as well,” he added.

The country manager, upbeat about prospects for 2025 year, said that his company’s focus will continue to revolve around the four pillars of inclusive growth, people and culture, sustainability as well as ethical and responsible standards.

“As we continue to protect the ecosystem, we will invest in technologies that reduce the likelihood of fraud. Outside of that we will continue to work with our micro SMEs and to have constant government engagement. As we pivot a little more, we also have a range of digital assets, particularly on the cyber side that we want to make available across the region. We have for the most part focused on financial institutions but our assets I think have expanded beyond these entities so we likewise want to have more conversations with other stakeholders across various markets in the Caribbean. These are just a few of the pipeline activities we have planned for the New year as we look to double down on the things we do well,” he said of the outlook.