Mastercard Incorporated MA recently collaborated with the leading telecommunications and mobile money services provider, Airtel Africa, in order to launch an innovative cross-border remittance service across the continent.
The innovative service will pave the way for 100 million-plus Airtel Africa mobile phone users located across 14 African markets to seamlessly and safely engage in money transfers through wallets. And this lucrative facility will enable the consumers to send as well receive money in more than 145 markets of the world.
The recent tie-up will also enable the utilization of the widespread network and digital payment capabilities of Mastercard. The Mastercard Cross-Border Services platform, which has already proved its credibility in bringing about speedy money transfers in more than 100 markets, will facilitate the outbound remittance transfers in a phased manner across the 14 African markets wherein Airtel operates. Apart from timely and secured money transfers, the platform also makes way for affordable transaction expenses.
The latest move reflects Mastercard’s endeavor to bring about in-demand digital remittances across Africa. Such tie-ups also widen the continent’s inhabitants’ access to financial services.
Mastercard has always promoted digitizing the money movement process, owing to the ease and cost-effective nature that it bears. A booming digital economy further provides an impetus to the tech giant to upgrade cross-border payments across different parts of the globe. MA’s intensified focus on strengthening its foothold in Africa is also clearly reflected through its latest partnership.
The reason behind the focus can be attributed to the flourishing digital economy and a significant flow of foreign remittances into Africa. Also, the idea of introducing a remittance service that promotes mobile wallet money transfers seem to be time opportune. Per Mastercard’s 2022 Borderless Payments Report, three-quarter of consumers indulge in using mobile apps for sending and receiving cross-border payments.
Mastercard’s innovative cross-border services suite, built on collaborations and substantial investments, makes it a favorite choice for infusing digital money transfers across several markets by financial institutions worldwide. In order to sustain its solid foothold across the global cross-border payments market, MA makes efforts to upgrade its cross-border services portfolio. This April, it launched the Cross-Border Services Express, which apart from speedy money transfers, aims to speed up the reach of financial institutions to market as well as minimize transaction risk and upgrade the international payments experience for consumers and businesses.
Shares of Mastercard have gained 13% year to date, compared with the industry’s 11.2% growth. MA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks in the Business Services space are Huron Consulting Group Inc. HURN, Aptiv PLC APTV and ICF International, Inc. ICFI. While Huron Consulting sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Aptiv and ICF International carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The bottom line of Huron Consulting outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 21.75%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HURN’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 31.8% from the year-ago reported figure. The same for revenues suggests growth of 17% from the year-ago reported number. The consensus mark for HURN’s 2023 earnings has moved 9.4% north in the past 30 days.
Aptiv’s earnings outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 13.35%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for APTV’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 35.2% from the year-ago reported figure. The same for revenues suggests growth of 12.7% from the prior-year reading. The consensus mark for APTV’s 2023 earnings has moved 5% north in the past seven days.
The bottom line of ICF International outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 6.95%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ICFI’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 8.8% from the year-ago reported figure. The same for revenues suggests growth of 10.8% from the year-ago reported number. The consensus mark for ICFI’s 2023 earnings has moved 0.3% north over the past seven days.
Shares of Huron Consulting, Aptiv and ICF International have gained 37.4%, 14.2% and 31.7%, respectively, year to date.
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Mastercard Incorporated (MA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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