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  • October 2014 (Revised June 2016)
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MasterCard: Driving Financial Inclusion

By: Sunil Gupta, Rajiv Lal and Natalie Kindred
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:22
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Abstract

MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga was investing significant time and attention to increase financial inclusion among individuals with historically no access to banking or financial services in countries around the world with large underserved populations. The effort included partnerships with governments and banks to issue MasterCard branded debit cards to millions of individuals. Financial inclusion could potentially help these individuals by increasing financial literacy, building credit records, improving savings rates, providing access to loans and other financial products, and, in general, by increasing the economic opportunities for these newly banked consumers. And by adding more customers, MasterCard potentially could also grow its bottom line.
Financial inclusion raised questions for MasterCard. Was the management time and attention well spent given the low returns expected from adding millions of mostly very poor customers? What risks might MasterCard encounter—particularly in some countries where citizens resented their government partnering with and providing personal data to a large U.S. company?

Keywords

Marketing; Financial Services; Financial And Social Return; Financial Inclusion; Strategic Management; South Africa; Nigeria; Ajay Banga; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; South Africa; Nigeria

Citation

Gupta, Sunil, Rajiv Lal, and Natalie Kindred. "MasterCard: Driving Financial Inclusion." Harvard Business School Case 515-035, October 2014. (Revised June 2016.)
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About The Authors

Sunil Gupta

Marketing
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Rajiv Lal

Marketing
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Related Work

    • March 2016
    • Faculty Research

    MasterCard: Driving Financial Inclusion

    By: Sunil Gupta
    • October 2014 (Revised June 2016)
    • Faculty Research

    MasterCard: Driving Financial Inclusion

    By: Sunil Gupta, Rajiv Lal and Natalie Kindred
Related Work
  • MasterCard: Driving Financial Inclusion By: Sunil Gupta
  • MasterCard: Driving Financial Inclusion By: Sunil Gupta, Rajiv Lal and Natalie Kindred
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