India is a very important market for MasterCard as it is witnessing a lot of activity in the digital space, UPI specifically, Mike Froman, vice-chairman and president, strategic growth of Mastercard, told CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
"India's economy is very strong. It is witnessing a lot of activity, a lot of entrepreneurial activity. We have 7,000 employees in the country, it is a very important market to us," Froman said, adding that there are a lot of positive developments in India, in terms of new innovation in the digital space.
On UPI and fintechs
Talking about India's innovations in the digital space, UPI specifically, and also the expectations that the RBI will allow linking of credit cards to UPI, Froman said that in general, Mastercard wants to partner with governments and local players, be relevant and helpful any way it can, to the development of the digital ecosystem. "We all win if the digital ecosystem continues to develop and evolve. We have great partnerships in India we look forward to continue to develop those," he said.
Mastercard has also inked deals with quite a few startups in India and Froman said it looks forward to doing so in the future as well. "There are 10,000s of startups in India in the fintech space that are so innovate and important for us to partner with. We have a great relationship with many of them. We have a programme that helps incubate fintechs and give them access to our network and our mentorship and the like. We will be very much focused on that ecosystem in India, which is the source of so many great innovations in the digital space," he added.
India's G20 Presidency
Froman thinks it is a great moment for India to take over the G20 Presidency and it comes at a critical time where there is a need of further collaboration among countries and between countries and governments as well as their private sectors. "And I think the G20 has really evolved over the last 10 or 15 years and it creates great opportunity for the private sector to give feedback, have input on things like the digital economy and financial inclusivity," he said, adding that Mastercard is honoured to co-chair the task force on financial inclusion and economic empowerment.
2023 outlook
Froman is of the view that for 2023, it is important to prioritise the areas in which Mastercard works, ensure that as a company it is focused on allocating its capital and resources to the highest priority projects. "In the process of doing that, I think it is important to also focus on the medium and the long term and investment in the kind of innovations that creates new businesses and new opportunities in the future," he added.
