Mastercard and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) have announced a collaboration to fuel the growth of the booming small and medium enterprise (SME) sector in the UAE.
The two companies are looking to provide digital services to SMEs, leveraging Mastercard’s technologies and resources, as well as the recently launched ADGM SME financing platform Numou.
Under the collaboration, Mastercard and ADGM will work with local banking partners to issue SME cards, which will offer a seamless and secure way to manage business expenses. They will also give the companies access to Mastercard’s SME business education and Start Path programmes, which will aim to provide SMEs with resources and information to fuel their growth.
SMEs are key drivers of economic diversification and digital transformation. According to government data, SMEs contribute 63.5% per cent to the UAE’s non-oil GDP, and their number is projected to hit 1 million by 2030.
However, Mastercard’s research on SME awakening shows that many of them feel discouraged from using business payment solutions, and opt for personal banking products instead. The reasons for this include high fees, difficulty of use and the fact that some companies are simply not big enough to qualify for mainstream business banking.
“At ADGM, our partnership with Mastercard aims to drive digital transformation in the thriving SME sector of Abu Dhabi and the UAE,” Hamad Sayah Al Mazrouei, CEO of ADGM Registration Authority (RA) said. “It will allow us to provide SMEs with a curated value proposition that meets the full spectrum of their requirements so that business owners can focus on developing their offerings and pursuing new opportunities.”
The partnership is also in line with Mastercard’s commitment to bring 50 million micro, small and medium enterprises worldwide into the digital economy by 2025.
“SMEs are the backbone of the economy,” said J.K. Khalil, Cluster General Manager, MENA East, Mastercard. “To achieve our target, we are connecting small business owners to the right tools and training while helping them pay and get paid securely, access capital and go digital wherever they are.”
