Yahoo Finance Mastercard (MA), SomBank to Speed Up Digitization in Somalia
Mastercard Incorporated MA recently collaborated with Somalia-based financial services provider, SomBank, in a bid to launch a Mastercard-branded debit card across the country. The SomBank Card will extend the benefits of digital payment solutions for Somalis to conduct hassle-free daily transactions.
At first, the card will be given out to 100,000 customers of SomBank this year and plans are in place to expand the reach of the card in the days ahead. The tie-up will give an opportunity to SomBank to issue the Mastercard-branded cards that will provide the bank’s customers access to a widespread network of merchants and ATMs that accept Mastercard payments.
An advanced payment solution aims to inject ease and security within the everyday transactions undertaken by Somalis, whether it is related to the buying of goods and services, withdrawals, online bill payments or fund transfers to friends and family. Similarly, it will also provide easier access to financial services, like savings, loans and insurance.
Therefore, the partnership reflects Mastercard’s efforts to increase the number of transaction terminals and earn higher revenues from offering enhanced payment solutions to the country’s consumers. The same is also likely to enable the tech giant to establish a solid presence across Somalia.
The latest move reflects one of the most longstanding endeavors of Mastercard, to motivate widespread uptake of digital payment solutions owing to their ease and affordability. This, in turn, will make way for more individuals and businesses to come under the ambit of a booming worldwide digital economy.
Mastercard intends to delve and establish a solid presence in nations with promising digital growth prospects and Somalia is one such country. Increased Internet penetration and higher usage of smartphones continue to spur the digital growth of Somalia. For infusing digitization across such nations, MA often takes the help of financial services providers or pursues significant investments.
In sync with the tech giant’s motive for pursuing the latest move, Mastercard also teamed up with MyBank and Network International in the past to unveil a Mastercard debit card for popularizing digital payments across Somalia.
Shares of Mastercard have gained 23.1% in a year, compared with the industry’s 11.8% growth. MA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks in the Business Services space are Ecovyst Inc. ECVT, The Brink's Company BCO and The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. IPG. While Ecovyst sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Brink’s and Interpublic Group carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The bottom line of Ecovyst outpaced estimates in one of the last four quarters, matched the mark once and missed the same twice on the remaining two occasions, the average beat being 4.39%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ECVT’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 17.9% from the year-ago reported figure. The consensus mark for ECVT’s 2023 earnings has moved 1% north in the past 30 days.
Brink’s earnings outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 11.74%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BCO’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 13.5% from the year-ago reported figure. The same for revenues suggests growth of 7.5% from the year-ago reported number. The consensus mark for BCO’s 2023 earnings has moved 2.4% north in the past 60 days.
The bottom line of Interpublic Group outpaced estimates in three of the last four quarters and matched the mark once, the average beat being 9.50%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IPG’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 7.6% from the year-ago reported figure. The same for revenues suggests growth of 3.1% from the year-ago reported number. The consensus mark for IPG’s 2023 earnings has moved 2.1% north in the past 60 days.
Shares of Ecovyst, Brink’s and Interpublic Group have gained 20.9%, 15.2% and 42.5%, respectively, in a year.
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