Optal’s wholly owned subsidiary, Optal Asia Limited, holds a Money Service Operator’s license in Hong Kong and has now been granted MasterCard principal membership. Optal’s UK subsidiary, Optal Financial Limited, is already one of Europe’s leading virtual card issuers, enabling customers to make business-to-business payments securely and efficiently.

Optal Managing Director, Rob Bishop, said, “Securing this licence is important to support our global growth aspirations. There is already very strong demand for our virtual card solutions in the Asian region. Having this licence enables us to broaden our service offering and to create new, bespoke payment solutions for the Asian region.”

Optal’s Chairman, Andre Sekulic, formerly President of MasterCard Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, said, “Optal’s strength is as an ecommerce enabler. The growth of ecommerce in the Asian region creates significant opportunities for Optal to help its customers make payments more efficient and reduce associated costs. We’re looking forward to continuing to work with our key business partners to execute new, Asian based opportunities.”