Mastercard and George Soros to Explore Private Sector Solutions to Societal Challenges
19 January 2017 - 10:00PM
Business Wire
Social enterprise to explore sustainable,
scalable commercial solutions for the humanitarian and development
community
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Mastercard and George Soros announced plans to explore creating
a social enterprise to apply commercial strategies to deliver a
positive impact on society. Called Humanity Ventures, the
enterprise could catalyze and accelerate economic and social
development for vulnerable communities around the world, especially
refugees and migrants.
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Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga and George
Soros met at the World Economic Forum announcing plans to explore
creating a social enterprise to apply commercial strategies to
deliver a positive impact on society. (Photo: Business Wire)
Pervasive joblessness, lack of access to healthcare, inadequate
education, and financial exclusion afflict people in both developed
and emerging economies. Despite billions of dollars of humanitarian
and development assistance every year, millions of people remain
marginalized. Mastercard and George Soros believe that private
sector capabilities coupled with strategic, long-term investments
can spur development and transform life for the underserved.
Last September, George Soros announced that he is earmarking up
to $500 million for private investments that will improve capacity
to address the challenges that migrants, including refugees, and
their host communities face around the world. Humanity Ventures
would be part of that initiative.
Mastercard delivers innovative payments, data, and identity
solutions which empower the underserved all over the world. These
tools improve the lives of refugees and migrants by forging better
economic and social ties with local populations.
Operating as a standalone entity, Humanity Ventures would
initially combine solutions designed to expand access to healthcare
and education, foster local economic development and
entrepreneurship, and enhance the delivery of aid. One such
solution is the Mastercard Aid Network, an award winning digital
voucher platform designed in partnership with humanitarian
organizations.
With the creation of Humanity Ventures, Soros could invest up to
$50 million to make these solutions even more scalable and
sustainable. The social enterprise could also serve as an incubator
and accelerator for smaller projects committed to mitigating the
migration crisis.
Designed to combine the need for business returns with social
impact, Humanity Ventures would also act as a new model for how
civil society, governments, and the private sector improve quality
of life and drive economic growth.
“Over several years, we’ve applied our thinking and technology
to help hundreds of millions connect to the formal economy and to
help empower safer and more efficient aid distribution,” said Ajay
Banga, president and CEO of Mastercard. “We can have
transformational impact by scaling our business-driven organization
to leverage innovation, on-the-ground experience and long-term
capital investments.”
“Migrants are often forced into lives of despair in their host
communities because they cannot gain access to financial,
healthcare and government services. Our potential investment in
this social enterprise, coupled with Mastercard’s ability to create
products that serve vulnerable communities, can show how private
capital can play a constructive role in solving social problems,”
said George Soros. “Humanity Ventures is intended to be profitable
so as to stimulate involvement from other businesspeople. We also
hope to establish standards of practice to ensure that investments
are not exploitative of the vulnerable communities we intend to
serve.”
About Mastercard
Mastercard (NYSE:MA), www.mastercard.com, is a technology
company in the global payments industry. We operate the world’s
fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers,
financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in
more than 210 countries and territories. Mastercard products and
solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping,
traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more
secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter
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Bureau.
About George Soros
George Soros is founder and chairman of Soros Fund Management
and the Open Society Foundations. Born in Budapest in 1930, he
survived the Nazi occupation during World War II and fled
Soviet-dominated Hungary in 1947 for England, where he graduated
from the London School of Economics. Soros has been active as a
philanthropist since 1979, when he began providing funds to help
black students attend Cape Town University in apartheid South
Africa. The Open Society Foundations today operate in more than 100
countries with an annual budget of roughly $800 million to promote
the values of open society-- freedom of expression, transparency,
accountable government, justice and equality.
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Mastercard CommunicationsRyan Erenhouse, +1
914-413-3963ryan.erenhouse@mastercard.comorSoros
CommunicationsMichael Vachonmichael.vachon@soros.com
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