The Bank of Punjab (BOP), one of the country’s leading financial institutions, with network of 664 branches and 655 ATMs across Pakistan, has signed an agreement with Mastercard, a leading technology company in the global payments industry. The partnership will see the bank’s customers in the region and across the globe benefit from a new range of electronic payment products. The agreement will see BOP issuing Mastercard debit and credit cards to its customers and enable point-of-sale (POS) and e-commerce acquiring, utilizing Mastercard’s industry-leading Mastercard Payment Gateway Services platform. Representatives from BOP attended the signing ceremony, including Zahid Mustafa – Group Chief, Consumer & Digital Banking, Asim Qureshi – Head Cards, Syed Shahzad Shahid – Head of Digital Banking and Rai Usman Mujahid – Head of Customer. From Mastercard, the event was attended by J.K. Khalil – Country General Manager for MENA East and Nabeel Ahmad – Director of Business Development, Pakistan. Addressing the participants, Mr. Zahid Mustafa said: “Cards and payments are critical components of our digital banking strategy to provide ease and convenience to our customers. We have developed a strong value proposition for our cards with the help of Mastercard as we seek to give value to our customers with every transaction. We are bringing learnings from international markets to Pakistan and the partnership with Mastercard is playing a pivotal role in digitization of retail, as well government initiatives.” Speaking on behalf of Mastercard, Mr. J.K. Khalil shared: “Pakistan is fast embracing digital payments and the endless opportunities it presents to people and communities. We are delighted to deepen our longstanding partnership with The Bank of Punjab through this milestone launch. Together, we are committed to offering world-class payment solutions to support the country’s digital transformation ambitions.”