Edenred is to acquire the payroll credit card portfolio of Mint in a bid to bolster its leadership position within the United Arab Emirates, it was announced on Thursday.
Mint is the second-biggest company that handles pay distribution and management for workers in the UAE who are unbanked or under-banked, with over a million people making use of the Edenred C3 solution and its mobile application myC3card.
The 600,000 people who currently make use of Mint payroll credit cards will now have the ability to tap into a complete range of brand-new services with the C3 app and credit card.
The new acquisition means that Edenred now has a presence within the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, which is primarily serviced by Mint.
Dubai has previously been the main focus of Edenred’s operations.
Edenred’s chief operating officer in the Middle East, Africa and Europe Arnaud Erulin says that the daily lives of people in the UAE who are unbanked and under-banked are being improved by the mobile app.
New functionalities matching the needs of UAE residents are added every year.
The technological and commercial know-how of Edenred is already serving over a million workers, a rise of over 600,000 from just five years ago back in 2015, with almost 600,000 Mint cardholders now also being added, Erulin says.
Nearly 60% of the workforce in the UAE does not take part in the financial system of the nation.
The solution offered by Edenred provides monetary inclusion while also offering traceable wages to companies, something that is required by local laws.
The C3 digital service provided by Edenred offers a digital gateway that is safe and secure and makes the administering of employee payroll simpler for companies for some of or even all of their workforce.
This is something that can be particularly useful within fields that need a big labour pool, such as the construction industry.
The C3 card also guarantees regular payments for employees.
The credit card also allows employees to make digital and physical payments and to take cash from ATMs.
The app comes with a portfolio of varied services including real-time customer service to allow for the discussion of bank balances and transactions in addition to cross-border money transfers with attractive interest rates.
Back in May 2019, Edenred opted to enter into a partnership with global credit card giant Mastercard in the test launching of a biometric credit card in Mexico.
The biometric match data is able to be made use of by the issuers of credit cards in order to cut down on the likelihood of card-present fraud and in order to boost approval rates.
The UAE has a wide range of different credits available to residents if they fulfil certain eligibility criteria.
Among the credit cards that are judged to be the best on offer in the UAE are the ADCB Islamic Gold Credit Card, the ADIB Cashback Platinum Credit Card and the UAB Platinum Credit Card.
