New Delhi, Oct 16 (UNI) Mastercard and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, on Wednesday announced the launch of ‘Team Cashless India’, an initiative brings consumers and merchants to the forefront of the digital payments dialogue.

Talking about the initiative, Dhoni said, “Having been brought up in a small town, I relate to the challenges due to the lack of digital infrastructure. I am truly inspired by Mastercard’s commitment to building a society where everyone has access to safe, secure, and seamless digital payments. It is a progressive journey and requires extensive teamwork. Through Team Cashless India, I would like to invite every Indian consumer and merchant to become a part of this team and play their part in India’s evolution as a digitally empowered cashless society.”

The campaign encourages all Indians to nominate one or more merchants who currently do not accept digital payments. Mastercard will work together with Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), acquirer banks and fintech companies to support nominated merchants to deploy digital payments acceptance infrastructure.

To take part in ‘Team Cashless India’, anyone can either nominate merchants online or give a missed call to 9016861000. Mastercard will also conduct an outreach program across multiple cities to educate merchants on the benefits of accepting digital payments and to provide a platform for consumers to nominate merchants.

These nominations are expected to create a social movement for making India a cashless society. To garner support for the movement, M.S. Dhoni will interact with merchants and encourage them to 'bat' for a cashless India by accepting digital payments. Mastercard will provide select nominated merchants and consumers with a chance to join Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Team Cashless India.

Elaborating on the initiative, Ari Sarker, Co-President, Asia Pacific, Mastercard said, “This exciting initiative brings together Mastercard’s commitment to Digital India and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s representation of a progressive ‘Bharat’. Mastercard believes Team Cashless India will play a vital role in engaging consumers and merchants to propel India’s transformation as a cashless economy.”

Over the last few years, digital payments in India have grown substantially. In FY19, the country registered 31.34 billion retail digital payments. Further, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has set a target of 40 billion digital transactions for FY 20.

UNI GK JW1937