Mastercard has launched Mastercard Strive India a new philanthropic programme focusing on micro-enterprises, women-owned businesses and agricultural entrepreneurs in India.

Mastercard Strive India will collaborate with trade associations, non-profit organisations and government agencies to enable around 500,000 small businesses to adopt digital tools and financial services by 2025.

Strive India builds on previous commitments Mastercard as made in the country to help small business gain capital, knowledge and the ability to go digital. This includes a $100,000,000 credit facility launched in partnership with HDFC Bank and other organisations.

The programme is supported by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, which aims to help small businesses around the world succeed in the digital economy. Strive India joins existing Strive programmes in the UK, US, Indonesia and Malaysia.

“Small businesses are poised to become India’s largest employer, can help make inclusion a cornerstone of the country’s journey to becoming a $5 trillion economy,” said Subhashini Chandran, vice president, social impact, Asia Pacific at the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. “Small businesses need broad support — from capacity building to wide-ranging access to tools, new markets and credit — to truly benefit from digital transformation and growth. We are committed to helping people around the world achieve long-term prosperity and will continue to work to meaningfully connect India’s small businesses to the digital economy.”

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