What started out as a partnership ‘forged during one of our country’s most vulnerable moments, the COVID-19 pandemic’ has now become ‘the model for targeted, rapid, and meaningful support’.

Forde, who at that time was the Minister of People Empowerment, explained that her Ministry had launched the Adopt-a-Family Programme and needed a way to reach those families who were struggling to survive the economic shocks of the pandemic in a healthy way, which did not put staff or clients at risk.  “With the help of CIBC, we provided many vulnerable clients at that time with the “Convenience Card”, a card that allowed us to disburse funds swiftly and securely to affected families’” she added.

That card acted as the stepping stone for the Ministry to fully embrace the CIBC Mastercard Prepaid Card which was launched at the function. Jennifer Fuller, CIBC Caribbean’s Director Enterprise Payments, Cards and Merchant Services explained that the card can be loaded, and the recipient is able to use it to pay for goods and services. She added that the card offers an adaptable payment solution that gives flexibility and convenience to corporate companies or government agencies looking to reduce costs and time associated with writing cheques. It also gives the security that dealing with huge sums of cash to pay staff does not give.

Mastercard Country Manager, Dalton Fowles, in his presentation to the guests explained “This solution speaks directly to the needs of today’s modern economy. Whether its government agencies disbursing pensions or social grants, or businesses managing payroll and employee expenses, our prepaid solution delivers greater speed, transparency and convenience… More importantly,, it opens the door to greater financial inclusion. For those without access to traditional banking services, this product creates a pathway to participate in the digital economy—securely, confidently, and with dignity.”  

Fowles explained that Mastercard was already seeing the impact of the card in other Caribbean markets like Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia and the Bahamas and he stated that they were soon going to be launching the product in the British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos and the Cayman Islands all of whom were in line to benefit from this enhanced digital payment infrastructure.