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Mashreq unveils new payment acceptance facility

Mashreq has introduced a new payment acceptance facility in the form of Mashreq Payport, the region’s first fully EMV Chip and PIN compliant mobile POS solution.

For businesses that are dependent on cash to facilitate home deliveries or many other similar business segments, Mashreq Payport provides the ideal, convenient, secure and cost-effective solution. With Mashreq Payport, any standard smart phone can be converted into a full-fledged payment acceptance terminal, all that is needed is to download the Mashreq Payport app on the phone and insert the card in the accompanying device.

“One of our biggest businesses is Mashreq acceptance. The merchant side of the business is extremely important for us,” Mashreq’s head of retail banking group Farhad Irani told Khaleej Times at the launch of ‘Payport.’

Merchant acceptance transaction volume in the country is huge and Mashreq is one of the three companies that deliver merchant solutions in the country. “Total volume in merchant acceptance, I estimate this year will be between Dh150 billion to Dh170 billion. Of that Mashreq has around 40 per cent share,” Irani said. He mentioned that merchant acceptance volume is growing around 15 per cent per annum and Mashreq is growing with 24 per cent.

Mashreq Payport is another relevant innovation along with Mashreq Go, Mashreq Max, Mashreq Snapp and many other recent innovations in Retail Banking. “We continue to live up to the promise we have made to our customers, to enrich all their experiences with us through innovation. We believe in harnessing the power of technology to create customer-centric solutions,” he said.

Nimish Dwivedi, head of payments, Mashreq said: “The launch of Mashreq Payport is set to transform the payments industry and it truly underlines our leading position in this domain.”

“Businesses will now get extremely easy and secure solutions for their home delivery mobile sales force or many such business verticals which are cash dependent,” said Dwivedi. He mentioned that Al Maya Supermarket has 31 outlets across the UAE, but records more than 5,000 home deliveries every day. Similarly, Pizza Express 20 per cent sales go through home delivery, he added. Al Maya Group takes lead among supermarkets in the country by becoming the founding member of the newly launched payment acceptance solutions by Mashreq.

“24 hours home delivery is a significant part of our business and the Mashreq Payport enables us to cater to more customer demands by providing payment solutions at their door steps. We have encountered multiple requests from customers to pay by card which prior to the introduction of Payport was not easily accessible,” Kamal Vachani, group director, Al Maya Supermarket, said at the launch news conference.

Ravi Bhardwaj, head of market development, MENA, MasterCard said: “Retailers and consumers alike are fast embracing innovative new payment solutions, and mobile devices have become a preferred platform to conduct payments. This solution opens doors for retailers, allowing them to take advantage of the world’s fastest payment processing network both in-store and off-premises.”

• abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com