Card payment partners charge 2.58% convenience fee for GCash cash-in via MasterCard/VISA bank card

The card payment partners of GCash will charge a minimal convenience fee of 2.58 percent for cash-in via MasterCard/VISA bank card services starting July 6, 2020. The fee is a direct charge of payment partners.

The convenience fee will be computed and will be stated in the GCash app for each cash-in via bank card transaction. For instance, a customer cashes in P100 in his GCash wallet. The convenience fee would be P2.58, for a total amount of P102.58 charged to the card.

Mastercard builds on COVID-19 response with commitment to connect 1 billion people to the digital economy by 2025

In this time of crisis, Mastercard has expanded its worldwide commitment to financial inclusion by pledging to bring a total of 1 billion people and 50 million micro and small businesses into the digital economy by 2025. As part of this effort, there will be a direct focus on providing 25 million women entrepreneurs with solutions that can help them grow their businesses. 

The impact of COVID-19 has made it even more pressing to support inclusive growth in Asia Pacific, which is home to 60 percent of the world’s population and the fastest-growing economic region. In an update in April, the World Bank said 24 million fewer people will escape poverty across the East Asia Pacific region this year than would have without the pandemic.  

Camila Cabello Joins Mastercard Roster Creating Digital Priceless Experiences

Naomi Osaka, Bryan Habana and Other Partners Help Fulfill People’s Passions for Arts & Culture, Culinary, Music and Sports Around the World

From intimate acoustic sessions with Camila Cabello featuring new renditions of her hit music to two-time Grand Slam™ winner Naomi Osaka serving up a family favorite recipe to a question and answer session hosted by rugby legend Bryan Habana, Mastercard is partnering with its global ambassadors to craft unique experiences for at-home enjoyment. The company is taking its expertise in building physical events and bringing them online in a series of global Digital Priceless Experiences, at a time when connecting to our passions – like music, sports and culinary – is more important than ever.

Philippines ranks #1 for women advancement in the workforce in global index

The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs finds that across different markets all over the globe, Filipino women make the greatest strides in the workforce.

Favorable entrepreneurial framework and conditions characterized by high levels of support for SMEs, ease of doing business, and access to financial services and academic programs are typically the key factors for women advancement in business. Such is reaffirmed in The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2019 (MIWE) through the findings for high-income countries like the U.S., New Zealand, and Canada. The Philippines, however, stood out as a promising market showing that women in less wealthy and developed economies can still thrive in entrepreneurial businesses.

Learning @ Home with Girls4Tech™ Connect: Mastercard Provides Free Online STEM Lessons to Children, Teachers and Parents

Mastercard extended access to its signature STEM curriculum, Girls4Tech™, through a suite of new online, creative educational resources. The program has been designed to help parents and teachers engage and inspire kids, ages 8-12.

Through the newly launched website Girls4Tech Connect, as well as through activities made in collaboration with our education partner Scholastic, teachers and parents can download lessons to help students learn about STEM topics, from the comfort of their homes or anywhere around the world.

These activities are built on global science and math standards – and incorporate Mastercard’s deep expertise in payments technology and innovation – to enable children to discover a range of STEM careers, such as Fraud Detective, Data Scientist and Software Engineer.

Now in its sixth year, Girls4Tech has engaged more than 800,000 students across the globe through inquiry-based activities and real-world challenges, all with the goal of inspiring more girls to pursue STEM careers and reduce the gender gap in these fields.

“We know that these are challenging times for parents and teachers on many fronts and hope that these learning resources are a fun way to engage and inspire kids about STEM while at home,” says Susan Warner, vice president of Community Engagement at Mastercard, and founder of Girls4Tech. “The easy access to the website enhances what we’ve done in so many workshops. We look forward to building on both efforts when it’s once again safe to gather in person.”

Beginning this week, new activities will be posted on a weekly basis at the Girls4Tech website, Facebook page and Twitter handle. Lessons are currently available in English, with additional Spanish and Chinese language content to follow in the coming weeks.

While all lessons are designed for students to work independently, materials are also available for teachers to guide online sessions.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard Launch Initiative to Speed Development and Access to Therapies for COVID-19

COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator will coordinate R&D efforts and remove barriers to drug development and scale-up to address the epidemic

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard today committed up to $125 million in seed funding to speed-up the response to the COVID-19 epidemic by identifying, assessing, developing, and scaling-up treatments. The partners are committed to equitable access, including making products available and affordable in low-resource settings. The COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator will play a catalytic role by accelerating and evaluating new and repurposed drugs and biologics to treat patients with COVID-19 in the immediate term, and other viral pathogens in the longer-term. Currently there are no broad-spectrum antivirals or immunotherapies available for the fight against emerging pathogens, and none approved for use on COVID-19. 

Citi Philippines Marks 25 Years of Leadership in Credit Cards

Manila –The country’s largest foreign bank celebrates another milestone as it marks its 25th year of providing world class credit card products and services to the Filipino consumer.

It was in 1990 when Citi Philippines introduced the Citibank MasterCard, marking the global bank’s entry into the Philippine credit card market. Back then, Citi was also credited for changing the payment landscape, when it lowered the minimum income requirement to own a credit card, and turned what was once a financial tool only for the elite, into a payment product that empowered middle income Filipino cardholders. 

“We are extremely proud of our legacy of success here in the Philippines, particularly in our consumer banking business led by our credit cards,” shared CEO Batara Sianturi in his speech at the celebratory event.  “As the world’s largest issuer of credit cards, we bring our experience and expertise across the globe in providing and anticipating the credit payment needs of our clients here in the country with the help of our partners like MasterCard.”

It’s Trendy Thursdays with Zalora and MasterCard

Shopping at Zalora becomes more exciting on Thursdays with MasterCard.

Thursday is the new favorite day of the week among trendspotters and fashionistas, as leading fashion and accessories retail website Zalora now provides 10% discount for MasterCard cardholders under the MasterCard Thursdays promotion.

Zalora provides a secure and user-friendly shopping platform, which features a wide range of clothing and accessories for men and women from some of the top local and international brands. Providing the ultimate shopping convenience, Zalora offers an extensive delivery network nationwide, free shipping for orders from Php1,000 and above, and a 30-day return policy.

Dan Carter Kicks off MasterCard’s Priceless Partnership

New Zealand rugby hero, world’s leading points scorer and MasterCard ambassador
Dan Carter, kicked off MasterCard’s Worldwide Partnership with
Rugby World Cup 2015 in central London at London’s biggest set of rugby posts,
Tower Bridge.

MasterCard will be the Preferred Card and Official Payment System of the highly anticipated Rugby World Cup 2015, which will takes place in England and Wales between September 18th and October 31st. The announcement continues a highly successful partnership between MasterCard and Rugby World Cup Limited, which began ahead of Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand.

Ann Cairns, President of International Markets of MasterCard Worldwide said: “We are delighted to be extending our partnership with Rugby World Cup, which takes place in England in 2015. Rugby World Cup is a truly priceless event for rugby fans around the world and we are looking forward to developing ways that we can bring this partnership to life for our cardholders and partners in 2015.”