Mastercard Strengthens Cross-Border Payments in MENA

Mastercard Move and Buna joined forces to enhance and facilitate cross-border payments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Mastercard officials announced that the company joined regional cross-border payment network Buna as a direct participant. The initiative is a first-of-its-kind public-private collaboration aimed at enabling fast, cheap, and transparent cross-border payments for MENA users.

Buna is a project of the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), which coordinates economic and monetary policies for the 22 Arab states in the MENA region. The Buna payment platform is used to instantly process cross-border payments from the AMF member countries, allowing payments to be sent and received in both local and major world currencies. The project is designed to support economic and financial cooperation among Arab countries, while enhancing investment and trade opportunities for project participants on a global scale.

Through the partnership, Buna participants will be able to interact with financial institutions around the world via a single connection to Mastercard Move. According to the press release, the Mastercard Move network spans 180 countries and more than 150 currencies, providing access to over 95% of the world’s banked population.

Alan Marquard, Head of Transfer Solutions at Mastercard, noted that the collaboration leverages existing infrastructure, enabling financial institutions to better serve individual and corporate customers without the need for major investments. He also emphasized Mastercard’s commitment to improving cross-border payments by using existing systems to increase their reach and efficiency.

Last week, Mastercard announced the launch of its Pay Local service in the Asia-Pacific region, allowing tourists and locals to link their credit and debit cards to digital wallets popular in certain regions.

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