Elkart and Mastercard to create co-badged card for payments at 200 million locations worldwide

The Interbank Processing Center (IPC), the operator of the national payment system Elkart, and Mastercard have signed a memorandum of cooperation. The agreement provides for the creation of a digital co-badged card, Elkart-Mastercard.

The document was signed by Altmysh Turatbekov, chairman of the IPC board, and Sanzhar Zhamalov, Mastercard's general director for Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia.

Holders of the new card will be able to add it to the digital wallets Apple Pay, Google Pay or Garmin Pay and pay for purchases abroad at more than 200 million retail outlets around the world that accept Mastercard. The card will also open access to foreign online platforms: air tickets, hotel bookings and online stores. Payments will be protected by Mastercard's MDES tokenization technology.

The agreement covers joint initiatives in the field of financial technology, digitalization, cybersecurity and the promotion of cashless payments. Altmysh Turatbekov noted that cooperation with Mastercard is designed for the long term. At Mastercard, the product's prospects are tied to growing demand for digital payments in Kyrgyzstan.