Mastercard, a leading technology company in the global payments industry, announced a strategic collaboration with Pakistan’s NADRA Technologies to optimize National ID cards with electronic payments functionality. The move will allow Pakistani citizens to carry out financial transactions and receive government disbursements by utilizing the unique 13-digit identification number of their identity card. Citizens will also be able to use their National ID to send and receive domestic and international remittances, eliminating the requirement to physically visit a bank branch or currency exchange house to meet their money transfer needs.

Under the terms of the agreement, Mastercard will also use its next-generation payment processing technologies to process all online payments made by Pakistani citizens for the issuance of National ID cards, passports or any other document provisioned by NADRA Technologies.

The announcement was made during Mastercard’s participation in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017, taking place from 17-20 January in Davos, Switzerland.

“This is a huge step forward in our efforts to expand financial inclusion in Pakistan,” said Khalid Elgibali, Division President, MENA, Mastercard: “As the nature of personal and business transactions becomes more sophisticated, Mastercard is dedicated to pioneering solutions that enable payments in a swift, convenient and reliable manner. We are excited to partner with NADRA Technologies to turn the National ID card into a singular touch point for payments and remittances, and thus open up avenues that minimize handling of cash in favor of a more secure electronic payment method.”