MasterCard and Equity Bank of Kenya announced an agreement at a signing ceremony in Nairobi to issue five-million MasterCard-branded debit and prepaid cards, over the next 18 months. This program empowers African consumers to use electronic payments which provide a safe and secure way to pay versus cash and other forms of payment. As a result of the partnership, MasterCard debit and prepaid cards with chip-enabled technology will be issued, first into the Kenyan market and then extended into Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and South Sudan, signaling the large rollout of EMV payment cards in sub-Saharan Africa to date.

The cards will also introduce MasterCard(R) PayPass(TM) with the first ever installation of PayPass enabled point of sale terminals across the region. The suite of products that will be made available in the East African region will include Mobile Point of Sale (MPOS) technology which allows merchants to receive payments via low cost add-ons linked to secure applications on their mobile devices (such as a smart phone or tablet). This technology will extend the security and convenience of electronic payments to merchants and their customers who previously depended on cash to transact.