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On Friday United Bank of AFRICA (UBA) announced the roll out of two mastercard electronic payment solutions in order to deliver cashless solutions to all Kenyans. The UBA debit MasterCard and UBA mastercard platinum card will help displace cash, delivering quick, convenient and secure payment alternatives for all citizens.This will create a solution that will help improve financial inclusion in the country with focus on innovation, financial literacy and customer protection.While the platinum card will offer UBA customers with benefits including legacy lifestyle Gold Tire memberships, shopping and shipping discounts, mastercard discounts including others.The debit master card gives the card holder full control of their funds and provides them with the ability to access funds directly from a savings account as well as a current account and there by reflecting all accounts real time.“As a business we are committed to displacing cash and empowering business and consumers across Africa and our partnership with mastercard enables us to deploy safe electronic solutions to the benefit of the entire country “ said Dr. Yinka Adedeji UBA’s Group Head Digital Banking.The exciting thing is that Kenyans can visit any UBA branch to request for the debit card and the cardholders don’t have to wait for days or weeks to receive the card, they will be instantly signed up and can start using the debit card immediately.The launch in Kenya follows other recent launches in other parts of Africa. the debit and the platinum cards can also be used at any ATM locally, and at millions of ATM locations worldwide.The chip embedded into the card contains information that is encrypted making it almost impossible for the card to be copied or counterfeited. Cardholders will also be able to select their own PIN, giving them full control to approve transactions at the point of sale or when withdrawing cash from ATMs.Bwakira also said that both organizations were focused on boosting financial inclusion across Africa. He highlighted that the partnership supported the Mastercard global commitment to financially empower more people by 2020. “Financial inclusion is essential to ensuring the economic growth of Kenya and the partnership aims to successfully integrate the country into the global financial system”.Chris Bwakira, vice president and area business Head East Africa mastercard said “in order to deliver a Kenya beyond cash we need to ensure all Africans feel confident that their money is secure and that they have access to relevant solutions that meet their needs at all points of their life. The UBA debit master card and platinum card introduces the latest global payment standard with EMV Chip and Pin technology embedded into the card making it difficult for fraudsters to duplicate your credentials”.