Mastercard Acquires Oltio to Accelerate Digital Payments Adoption in Middle East and Africa

Acquisition to drive cash displacement and innovation in emerging markets

Mastercard has completed its acquisition of mobile payments technology company Oltio from Standard Bank Group.

The acquisition builds on Mastercard’s longstanding relationship with Oltio, a startup that pioneered and patented several mobile payments and banking solutions, including an authentication technology. Today, that technology enables consumers to authenticate Masterpass digital wallet purchases in South Africa using their bank PIN and mobile phone.

Over the coming months, Mastercard will leverage Oltio’s technology, people and infrastructure to enhance and scale its existing suite of digital solutions for merchants and issuers in cash-orientated, emerging markets  - in turn, enabling them to deliver more seamless payment experiences to the consumer.

“Too many consumers and merchants in the MEA region are stuck in a cash economy that doesn’t work for them,” says Mark Elliott, division president for Mastercard, Southern Africa. “By combining our joint expertise, technologies and reach, we can bridge the divide between the region’s cash economies and the digital future, bringing the benefits of digital payments to more people and businesses.”

Issuers will benefit from added functionality including person-to-person payments, bill payments, and airtime top-ups, which they can integrate into their existing mobile banking applications.

For merchants, Mastercard will enhance and scale its omni-channel acceptance solutions, enabling even the smallest businesses to accept digital payments using efficient and affordable technology, such as Quick Response (QR) codes.

“We have had a great relationship with Mastercard over the years, and believe that Oltio will thrive as part of an issuer-independent payments company with Mastercard’s vast global resources and innovative technology,” says Andrew Wilmot, executive, Group Card and Emerging Payments for Standard Bank.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  All statements other than statements of historical facts may be forward-looking statements.  When used in this press release, the words “believe”, “expect”, “could”, “may”, “would”, “will”, “trend” and similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to Mastercard’s future prospects, developments and business strategies, as well as Mastercard’s acquisition and operation of Oltio’s business.  We caution you to not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as they speak only as of the date they are made.  Except for the company’s ongoing obligations under the U.S. federal securities laws, the company does not intend to update or otherwise revise the forward-looking information to reflect actual results of operations, changes in financial condition, changes in estimates, expectations or assumptions, changes in general economic or industry conditions or other circumstances arising and/or existing since the preparation of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of any unanticipated events.

Many factors and uncertainties relating to the proposed transaction, our operations and our business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control, influence whether any forward-looking statements can or will be achieved.  Any one of these factors could cause our actual results or the impact of the acquisition to differ materially from those expressed or implied in writing in any forward-looking statements made by Mastercard or on its behalf.  Such factors related to the completion and impact of the acquisition include, but are not limited to statements related to the company’s ability to enhance digital payments services through the acquisition.

For additional information on other factors related to Mastercard’s overall business that could cause Mastercard’s actual results to differ materially from expected results, please see the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and any subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K.