Mastercard, in collaboration with emerging markets-focused mobile payments app Swoo Pay, is set to introduce a cryptocurrency loyalty rewards program aimed at addressing the gaps in payment services left by Google Pay.
The initiative allows users to earn cryptocurrency rewards akin to loyalty points, a concept not entirely new to major payment networks like Mastercard and Visa. Several years ago, Mastercard had announced a crypto loyalty program in partnership with NYSE-owned platform Bakkt, while Visa had collaborated with the now-defunct BlockFi to offer a credit card enabling users to earn bitcoin (BTC) on purchases. However, these ventures eventually faded away for various reasons.
With this new partnership, Mastercard and Swoo Pay are targeting emerging regions such as Africa and Southeast Asia, specifically areas where Google Pay has not yet made inroads. Filipp Shubin, co-founder of Swoo Pay, emphasized the significance of reaching users in countries with a high concentration of affordable Huawei smartphones, where Google services are not available due to sanctions from the U.S. government.
“In many emerging countries like Nigeria, Kenya, Philippines, and Indonesia, there are billions of users who have MasterCard and Visa cards, but don’t have access to Google Pay,” Shubin stated. “Another problem concerns countries with a big market share of Huawei smartphones, since due sanctions from the U.S. government, there are no Google services on top of these phones.”
Under the partnership, Mastercard will support the Swoo tokens, the rewards offered to users, which can be readily converted to other cryptocurrencies like bitcoin or USDC (USD Coin). In a pilot conducted in January, 17,000 participants benefited from the 5% crypto cashback scheme.
Denis Filippov, a country manager for Mastercard, expressed optimism about the collaboration, stating, “Swoo Pay solves issues with tokenized payments for Android device users, making them more accessible, and our collaboration is designed to provide additional innovative incentives for Swoo users in making everyday purchases.”
