MasterCard honors UAE banks for payments excellence

The Product Awards were presented during the MasterCard Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa (APMEA) Product Forum, which was held in Hong Kong earlier this month.

The MasterCard APMEA Product Forum attracted a wide range of payment industry experts and MasterCard executives who shared key learnings, developments and insights into the future of payments. The forum showcased case studies, the latest payment solutions technology and emerging card industry trends.

The MasterCard Product Awards, which cover the APMEA region, recognize excellence and best practice in card product innovation and operation in a variety of categories, such as Debit Cards, Contactless Payments, Consumer Credit, and Corporate Payment Solutions, over the past 12 months. The panel of award judges was comprised of senior executives from MasterCard Worldwide.

During the awards ceremony, MasterCard presented ADCB with the MasterCard Silver Product Award for its Smart Debit Program launched in the United Arab Emirates in January 2005.

RAKBANK received the MasterCard Gold Product Award in the Premium segment for its RAKBANK Titanium MasterCard credit card, the first of its kind in the Middle East and Levant (ME&L).

Mashreqbank was honored with the Gold Product Award for its Mashreqbank UAE Gate Prepaid MasterCard card which was developed in conjunction with DATEL, the company that powers the e-Gate electronic passport recognition systems at all UAE airports. The Mashreqbank UAE Gate Prepaid MasterCard card is the first combined MasterCard payment card and electronic immigration identifier in the APMEA region.

DATEL, a key associate in this project, used innovative MasterCard payment technology to develop this exclusive prepaid card, which was specifically designed to meet the needs of frequent Middle East travelers.

Denzil Lawson, General Manager, Middle East and Levant (ME&L), MasterCard Worldwide said: 'MasterCard brought together leading payment product experts from around the world in Hong Kong to discuss current and future payment systems and how to enhance them for the benefit of consumers. We believe in constant innovation and staying ahead of cardholder needs. An important part of staying ahead of these needs is sharing best practices that other organizations can learn from.'

'The judging panel had a hard job as standards were high, but we were delighted that three of our most valuable Middle East customers ADCB, Mashreqbank and RAKBANK were selected for MasterCard Product Awards,' Mr. Lawson said.