MasterCard leads debate on sustainable banking, public-private partnerships at 2016 International Arab Banking Summit

MasterCard, a technology company in the global payments industry, reaffirmed its support for the Arab banking industry’s journey towards digital transformation and sustainable banking practices with its sponsorship of the “Arab Banker of the Year 2016” Award, which was held yesterday in Rome as part of the 2016 International Arab Banking Summit.

The award ceremony was followed by a welcome address by Raghu Malhotra, President, Middle East and Africa, MasterCard, who invited the audience’s attention to the need for expediting financial inclusion and how the banking industry can help vulnerable segments of society increase their resilience to climate change risks by providing them with access to financial services. He also highlighted the ways in which MasterCard is leveraging technology to drive payment innovations that helped bring more people around the region into the financial mainstream.

“The rising tide of environmental challenges has made it necessary for banking players to adopt environmentally and socially responsible financing practices,” Malhotra said. “At MasterCard, we are committed to using our technology to move the world towards a more sustainable and inclusive future, and the Summit provided us a platform to share our insights with banking industry professionals on how technological innovations and greater collaboration between governments, banks and private sector players can catalyze financial inclusion in the Arab world.”