Oberthur Joins MasterCard's Underbanked Program

MasterCard's Mobile Money Partnership Program (MMPP) has added Oberthur Technologies' MoreMagic subsidiary, a provider of financial services, security and identity management.

MoreMagic supports banking, payment and other commerce services in regions that lack a traditional banking infrastructure. It links mobile operators, financial institutions, retail distributors, non-government organizations and other businesses.

Through MMPP, Oberthur will extend its existing mobile money offerings and provide access to the MasterCard network. That includes prepaid cards, virtual cards for e-commerce payments using a mobile money account, and person-to-person payments between subscribers of two different mobile money services.

The Colombes, France-based Oberthur also recently joined the Fast Identity Online Alliance shortly after MasterCard announced its participation in FIDO, which aims to improve payment security through the use of common technology.

In a separate initiative to reach underserved markets, MasterCard has also partnered with Western Union.