This partnership first aims to build an efficient payment ecosystem, starting with the education sector, and expanding into other sectors

Mastercard partnered with Central Bank of Iraq. Source: unsplash.com

Mastercard signed a partnership agreement with the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) to digitize the country’s payment ecosystem.

Their collaboration is expected to boost financial inclusion, encourage socio-economic development, mitigate the risks of a shadow economy and accelerate the advancement toward a cashless society.

This will not only reduce the use of cash, promote the use of digital payments, and increase government revenues. It will also minimize sizeable operational and administrative inefficiencies in the education industry by reducing the overly manual processes.

According to the report, Iraq’s population of 40 million people is largely cash-driven, with 99.8% of its $122 billion personal consumption expenditure made in cash in 20191.

Despite that, there is a large potential for digitization, as the country has a 70% smartphone penetration rate and 222% of the population fall within the young and tech-savvy 15-24 years old age bracket.

We’ve reported that Stripe Issuing service is now available in Europe.

SEE ALSO:?

• How to apply for a Wells Fargo bank account as a foreigner
• The most intense brand wars of all time
• US retail trends 2021: what to expect