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Tag: MasterCard

  • Salute heroes for women empowerment through HDFC

    Salute heroes for women empowerment through HDFC

    NEW DELHI:Cardholders from HDFC Bank can nominate their special hero who has been contributing towards the cause of women empowerment and stand a chance to win exciting prizes.

    This is part of a “#CelebrateHERoes” Priceless Surprises campaign by Mastercard in partnership with HDFC Bank in which Flipkart is the marquee retail partner. This is for the first time that Mastercard is inviting cardholders to give back to society through its collaboration with other partners.

    Mastercard Country Corporate Officer and Division President, South Asia Porush Singh said: “Women empowerment remains at the heart of Mastercard and with the launch of this campaign, we will further raise awareness and support the unsung heroes who are working towards this cause. Mastercard is excited to have partnered with HDFC Bank and Flipkart in celebrating this wonderful cause and rewarding our cardholders with Priceless Surprises.”

    “At HDFC Bank, we believe that by empowering women we can make a difference in the lives of an entire household and help create sustainable communities. This philosophy is embedded in a number of our businesses and projects that we undertake as a socially responsible corporate citizen. Through this campaign, which is closely aligned with our philosophy, we hope we can encourage even more people to be a part of this endeavor,” said Parag Rao, Country Head – Card Payment Products and Merchant Acquiring Services, HDFC Bank.

    Also speaking on the campaign, Flipkart Head- Category Design Kalyan Krishnamurthy said, “Flipkart has always believed in transforming commerce and adding value to customers in India through innovative modes of engagement. This initiative by Mastercard is a unique way to instill the thought of women empowerment and we are happy to partner with them and inspire millions of individuals who shop on Flipkart.

    As part of this initiative, Mastercard cardholders from HDFC Bank can submit nominations on impactful stories relating to a person or their hero making a meaningful difference to the lives of women in India.

    The participant who sends in the best nomination will stand a chance to win a grand prize of a free trip for two people to the United States of America and the nominee will get a grant of Rs 10 lakh. Seven more finalists will receive Flipkart vouchers of Rs 50,000 each. The gratification for the seven nominees will also expand to felicitate and recognize these leading heroes in everyday life through a reward of Rs 8 lakhs each to contribute to a cause of their choice.

    The campaign kicks off with the launch of a video showcasing actor-producer Anil Kapoor urging people to come forward and make that difference towards encouraging and supporting women in their own little ways. The video has been planned and created by McCann Erickson and produced by Sniper.

    Kapoor said, “I am excited to be part of this campaign. I am happy to celebrate the real heroes who make a difference in women’s lives for a better and empowered society. This is my chance to be part of Something Priceless.”

    Nominations can be sent on CelebrateHeroes@hdfcbank.com or on Mastercard Facebook page – with #CelebrateHERoes. The best nominations would be adjudged by a distinct panel of jury selected by Mastercard and HDFC Bank.

  • Mastercard revamps its logo keeping digital world in mind

    Mastercard revamps its logo keeping digital world in mind

    MUMBAI: Leading global payments & technology company Mastercard has revamped its logo, a first for the financial services giant in 20 years, according to reports.

    The new card logo no longer reads CamelCase; it’s just “Mastercard” now and in some cases “mastercard’, as per theverge.com. The logo still has the overlapping red and yellow circles and sans-serif font, but all the elements are finer and sharper.

    Knowing that almost 2.3 billion people carry the company’s cards, one would wonder why it needed a change in the first place endangering its 20 year old brand identity.

    “This is really one of the most broadly distributed and most widely seen marks in the world,” said Michael Bierut, who designed the new branding with Pentagram partner Luke Hayman in an interview with the media. Between them, the acclaimed designers have revamped identities for everyone from Verizon to New York Magazine to Hillary Clinton.

    There is also the question of credibility. Consistent branding is one of the ways in which banks and credit cards build trust with their customers. But as the function that these financial services offer have evolved with time between online payment platform, a digital wallet, and a technology company, suiting the current digitally charged consumers, it is important to have a logo that reflects just that.

    “It needs to thrive in a digital space,” Mastercard’s customer experience and design head Cindy Chastain had said on the new change. “It’s simplified. It’s modernized and optimized for relevance in an increasingly digital world.”

    In other words, traditional financial companies are now opting for logos that not only look good and trustworthy on banners, billboards and cards, but on laptop screens, smartwatches and of course as app logos as well.

  • Mastercard revamps its logo keeping digital world in mind

    Mastercard revamps its logo keeping digital world in mind

    MUMBAI: Leading global payments & technology company Mastercard has revamped its logo, a first for the financial services giant in 20 years, according to reports.

    The new card logo no longer reads CamelCase; it’s just “Mastercard” now and in some cases “mastercard’, as per theverge.com. The logo still has the overlapping red and yellow circles and sans-serif font, but all the elements are finer and sharper.

    Knowing that almost 2.3 billion people carry the company’s cards, one would wonder why it needed a change in the first place endangering its 20 year old brand identity.

    “This is really one of the most broadly distributed and most widely seen marks in the world,” said Michael Bierut, who designed the new branding with Pentagram partner Luke Hayman in an interview with the media. Between them, the acclaimed designers have revamped identities for everyone from Verizon to New York Magazine to Hillary Clinton.

    There is also the question of credibility. Consistent branding is one of the ways in which banks and credit cards build trust with their customers. But as the function that these financial services offer have evolved with time between online payment platform, a digital wallet, and a technology company, suiting the current digitally charged consumers, it is important to have a logo that reflects just that.

    “It needs to thrive in a digital space,” Mastercard’s customer experience and design head Cindy Chastain had said on the new change. “It’s simplified. It’s modernized and optimized for relevance in an increasingly digital world.”

    In other words, traditional financial companies are now opting for logos that not only look good and trustworthy on banners, billboards and cards, but on laptop screens, smartwatches and of course as app logos as well.

  • TranServ ropes in MasterCard ‘s Salil Mody and MobiKwik’s Ushpinder Singh

    TranServ ropes in MasterCard ‘s Salil Mody and MobiKwik’s Ushpinder Singh

    MUMBAI: TranServ, a Indian digital payments company, has roped in  Salil Mody as SVP corporate strategy and Ushpinder Singh as the SVP and head merchant business. Mody will focus on driving corporate strategy, inorganic growth and innovative initiatives like micro-credits. While Singh will lead the merchants business and will be responsible for sales of the Udio product suite with special focus on API integrations and digital payment solutions of the company.

    Speaking on the new appointments, TranServ co-founder and CEO Anish Williams said, “2016 is an important year for us at TranServ. We launched our flagship product Udio, India’s first social wallet, and have been adding interesting features to our Udio product suite for merchants. We have even forayed into the corporate space with expense management solutions, and have also just secured Series C investment from Micromax and IDFC Mutual Funds. We are now aggressively focusing on providing more secure and seamless payment offerings for both our merchants and consumers. By welcoming Salil and Ushpinder, we are looking to leverage their expertise in digital payments to consolidate our leadership position within the Indian market even further. We are confident that their addition will add another dimension to our business strategy and will aid us immensely in our continued growth and success.”

    Mody comes with an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and holds a Master’s degree in computer engineering from the University of California. He comes with experience in the payments space with 8 years at PayPal across Silicon Valley and India. Prior to his joining, he was at MasterCard where he was responsible for market development for South Asia.

    On the other hand, Singh comes with 16 years of work experience with 6.5 years in the mobile payments space. Prior to TranServ, he was heading partnership and strategic alliances at MobiKwik. Before venturing into mobile payments, he has worked with various CMM L5 technology consulting companies, both in India and US. 

    TranServ’s current focus is on corporate and business strategies ensuring a healthy balance between sustainability and growth. The company has also forayed into the corporate space through its small value employee payments delivered via the Udio app and is looking to capture 35 percent of the market by the end of the current fiscal. It has been actively trying to create a more integrated, ubiquitous and holistic mobile payments infrastructure within the country through its innovative tech-based solutions.

  • TranServ ropes in MasterCard ‘s Salil Mody and MobiKwik’s Ushpinder Singh

    TranServ ropes in MasterCard ‘s Salil Mody and MobiKwik’s Ushpinder Singh

    MUMBAI: TranServ, a Indian digital payments company, has roped in  Salil Mody as SVP corporate strategy and Ushpinder Singh as the SVP and head merchant business. Mody will focus on driving corporate strategy, inorganic growth and innovative initiatives like micro-credits. While Singh will lead the merchants business and will be responsible for sales of the Udio product suite with special focus on API integrations and digital payment solutions of the company.

    Speaking on the new appointments, TranServ co-founder and CEO Anish Williams said, “2016 is an important year for us at TranServ. We launched our flagship product Udio, India’s first social wallet, and have been adding interesting features to our Udio product suite for merchants. We have even forayed into the corporate space with expense management solutions, and have also just secured Series C investment from Micromax and IDFC Mutual Funds. We are now aggressively focusing on providing more secure and seamless payment offerings for both our merchants and consumers. By welcoming Salil and Ushpinder, we are looking to leverage their expertise in digital payments to consolidate our leadership position within the Indian market even further. We are confident that their addition will add another dimension to our business strategy and will aid us immensely in our continued growth and success.”

    Mody comes with an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and holds a Master’s degree in computer engineering from the University of California. He comes with experience in the payments space with 8 years at PayPal across Silicon Valley and India. Prior to his joining, he was at MasterCard where he was responsible for market development for South Asia.

    On the other hand, Singh comes with 16 years of work experience with 6.5 years in the mobile payments space. Prior to TranServ, he was heading partnership and strategic alliances at MobiKwik. Before venturing into mobile payments, he has worked with various CMM L5 technology consulting companies, both in India and US. 

    TranServ’s current focus is on corporate and business strategies ensuring a healthy balance between sustainability and growth. The company has also forayed into the corporate space through its small value employee payments delivered via the Udio app and is looking to capture 35 percent of the market by the end of the current fiscal. It has been actively trying to create a more integrated, ubiquitous and holistic mobile payments infrastructure within the country through its innovative tech-based solutions.

  • Network18 appoints ad guru Prasoon Joshi as additional director

    Network18 appoints ad guru Prasoon Joshi as additional director

    MUMBAI: Network18 Media & Investments has appointed National Award winning Indian lyricist, screenwriter and ad-guru Prasoon Joshi as additional director.

     

    Designated as an independent director, Joshi’s term is for a period of five years.

     

    Network18’s Board of Directors at its meeting held on 15 January, 2016 confirmed the appointment.

     

    Joshi is currently McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific chairman as well as the agency’s India CEO. 

     

    He is credited with marrying creativity with scale and giving McCann’s work in India a distinct cultural edge. Joshi has worked on mainstream brands like Coca Cola, Mastercard, J&J, Perfetti, Nestle, GM, Metlife, Pears, Star TV, Maggi re-launch as well as NDTV, Marico, Dabur and Britannia amongst others.

  • Carat India rated number one on vitality scores: RECMA

    Carat India rated number one on vitality scores: RECMA

    MUMBAI: After a flurry of account wins over the last 12 months including brands like General Motors, Microsoft, Sony, Nokia, MasterCard, British Airways, JSW Steel & Cement, Popees and Ruosh to name a few, Carat has also shown the maximum growth on the Qualitative Ranking of RECMA moving from the number 11 spot in August 2013 to number four in the latest report, making it the fastest growing media agency in India.

     

    To top it all, on Vitality scores of the research, Carat has jumped to the number one position with a perfect score of 10.

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO South Asia Ashish Bhasin said, “This is an absolutely fantastic achievement by Carat to become the fastest growing agency in India. From being a one-in-a-crowd agency in the market, in a short time, they are at the top-end of the table. As the lead media agency of the Denstu Aegis Network, Carat continues to make its mark in the Industry and will very soon be amongst the top three on all parameters.”

     

    Carat India managing director Kartik Iyer opined, “This is a great testimony for the fantastic work the teams have put over the past few years to strengthen the Carat brand in India. This is also a result of the key investments made by group in great people and processes which have delivered outstanding solutions to our clients.”

  • Indian mobile shopping purchases on the rise: MasterCard survey

    Indian mobile shopping purchases on the rise: MasterCard survey

    MUMBAI: Purchasing patterns in the country are seeing a change. While visits to the kirana store continue, online purchases made through mobile phones in India have grown by more than 100 per cent over the past two years. This indicates a steep upward trend in e-commerce propelled by expediency, reveals the MasterCard Online Shopping Survey 2014, which covered 14 countries across Asia Pacific.

     

    China continues to lead the chart among mobile shoppers with 70.1 per cent of the respondents polled having used the device to make online purchases. India (62.9 per cent) and Taiwan (62.6 per cent) follow next with Thailand (58.8 per cent) and Indonesia (54.9 per cent) rounding off the top five.

     

    Some of the key takeaways of the report:

    -India ranks second with 81.2 per cent of respondents accessing the internet for online shopping while China leads with 86.6 per cent.

     

    -95 per cent of Indian respondents with a mobile phone have access to the internet through it (up by 20.2 points since 2012)

     

    -The number of Indian respondents, who have made at least one purchase in the last three months, has increased from 70.9 per cent in 2012 to 94 per cent in 2014.

     

    -The major factors impacting online purchases include the security of payment facility (86.8 per cent) followed by the price or monetary value of items (86.6 per cent) and convenient payment methods (86.2 per cent)

     

    MasterCard South Asia area head Vikas Varma said, “Digital payment solutions like mobile banking apps and digital wallets will go a long way to further enrich the purchasing experience for the evolving consumer. The survey shows that there is a strong need to provide not only secure, but also convenient payments solutions as consumers move to a more digital and sophisticated lifestyle.”

     

    Furthermore, in India the top three reasons for driving smart phone shopping were the ability to shop on the go (47.7 per cent), the growing availability of apps that makes it easier to shop (45.3 per cent) and convenience (38.1 per cent). Mobile phones/mobile gadget apps topped the list of items purchased through smartphones (28.8 per cent), followed by tickets for cinema and movie theatres (26.7 per cent) and clothing/fashion accessories (24 per cent).

     

    For online transactions, the most common payment methods used are debit cards and cash. New mobile technologies are also gaining traction among consumers in the region, with mobile banking apps having the highest awareness-familiarity levels (38.3 per cent) followed by in-app shopping (28.7 per cent) and digital wallets (24.4 per cent).

  • Dentsu acquires digital agency Webchutney from Network18

    Dentsu acquires digital agency Webchutney from Network18

    MUMBAI: It‘s cashing out on its investment. Media conglomerate Network18 today announced that it was finally divesting its equity holding in digital marketing agency Webchutney to Japanese ad giant, Dentsu. The latter had been circling Webchutney, ogling it as an acquisition for nearly a year. Founded in 1999, Webchutney will reportedly be Dentsu‘s first local acquisition in the digital agency space.

    Network18 had acquired a majority stake in Webchutney through its venture capital arm Capital18 in November 2007 and it says it has managed to get a 300 per cent return on its investment through the current transaction.

    Webchutney, a leading interactive marketing and technology services agency, reported a net profit of Rs 6.35 crore in the financial year 2011-2012 on revenues of Rs 21.55 crore, according to media reports. It boasts a healthy clientele including Airtel, Microsoft, Unilever, Marico, Titan, MasterCard, Barclay‘s, Procter & Gamble among many others, and ranks among the top digital agencies in India.

    Its full suite of digital offerings includes online advertising, web designing and development, search engine marketing and social media consulting. Its award winning teams are spread across Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and consists of over 200 professionals.

    Network18‘s 80 per cent Webchutney stake is bifurcated between Capital18 Mauritius which holds 49.42 per cent and Capital18 Fincap which has a 20.64 per cent.

    Commenting on the transaction, Network18 MD Raghav Bahl says: “The divestiture of Webchutney, is a reflection of our commitment to profitably monetise our investment portfolio for the benefit of our shareholders and to also facilitate the growth of these businesses to the next level. We would like to convey our best wishes to the Webchutney team as they embark on the next phase of their journey.”

    Webchutney co-founder and CEO Sidharth Rao says: “I am personally grateful to Sarbvir Singh who has been my mentor for the past five years and his team at Capital18 for ensuring that we shared a wonderful journey together. In Dentsu and Rohit Ohri, we have found a partner who is willing to invest in and cultivate our passion to provide path breaking digital creative services to our clients.”

     

    Dentsu India group executive chairman Rohit Ohri along with Webchutney co-founders Sidharth Rao (L) and Sudesh Samaria (R)

     

    Dentsu India group executive chairman Rohit Ohri opined that he is delighted to have India‘s No 1 digital agency as a part of the Dentsu India group. He explains: “We’re now going to be able to put world-class digital solutions in the centre of our offering to our clients.”

    Now that could be music to anyone‘s ears.

  • Mumbai Indians ropes in Bajaj Allianz as principal sponsor

    MUMBAI: It’s raining dollars for Mumbai Indians. The team has managed to sign on insurer Bajaj Allianz as its principal sponsor for the next three years. The deal, according to sources, is worth Rs 100 million per annum or Rs 300 million for the duration of the agreement.

    “The deal will be for the back of the shirt,” says the source. “And Bajaj Allianz is coming in as a replacement for MasterCard which recently completed a five year arrangement for the same with the
    Mumbai Indians.”

    The Mukesh and Nita Ambani owned Mumbai Indians has already roped in Videocon d2H as its principal sponsor at a deal valued at over Rs 300 million for the sixth season of the IPL. As a result of the deal, Mumbai Indians, which is to be led by Ricky Ponting, will have its players sporting the Videocon d2H logo on the front of the team jersey.

    Mumbai Indians has additionally roped in Air India as an associate sponsor (its logo will feature on the back of players’ helmets) and is hoping to notch up a 10 per cent increase in sponsorship revenues from last year’s Rs 700 million.

    Other sponsors of Mumbai Indians include Dheeraj Realty and DHFL.