Through the collaboration, MasterCard will incentivize its cardholders to make use of electronic payment solutions, thus supporting the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) move towards a cashless economy.

The joint venture between MasterCard and Flying Dove Limited, signals the first cashless initiative of its nature in Nigeria for MasterCard. The collaboration supports MasterCard's vision to accelerate the move towards more convenient and safer payment methods for consumers, and to then showcase the success of the collaboration to the wider Nigerian business sector.

Omokehinde Ojomuyide, country manager, West Africa, MasterCard Worldwide commented, "MasterCard cardholders will quality for a 5% discount on the purchase of any item at Sony Centers across Nigeria. In addition, and as part of the alliance with MasterCard, Sony Center staff will undergo card acceptance and fraud prevention training. We will also be supporting Flying Dove by marketing the discount offer, further showcasing the benefits of moving towards electronic payments to our cardholders."

Ashok Jain, Managing Director for Flying Dove Limited added, "Working alongside MasterCard has allowed us, as a retail leader in Nigeria, to further solidify our position in the local market. Our vision is to help make payments in all of the Sony Centers more convenient, easier and safer for customers and the Sony Center staff."

Ojomuyide comments that the key stakeholders in the success of the cashless initiative are the financial sector, consumers and businesses. "Strategic initiatives such as our collaboration with Flying Dove Limited will assist each stakeholder to better support the CBN, in its quest to drive the development and modernization of the Nigerian payment system."

Ojomuyide provided further insight: "The CBN's cashless policy aims to curb the increasing cost of cash, including handling and production costs. It was forecasted by the CBN in 2011 that the direct cect cost of cash management in Nigeria would increase substantially to N192 billion by 2012, impacting economic efficiency and the efficiency of all financial systems in the country. The CBN further noted that the reduction of cash will assist in curbing the impact of corruption and other criminal behavior, which will have a positive impact on all Nigerian citizens."

"MasterCard will continue to work with Nigerian banks and retailers to facilitate the reduction of cash within their payment systems by offering innovative, safe and convenient payment alternatives to their customers. We look forward to achieving our shared goal of a cashless Nigeria, where our dependency on cash transactions will be significantly reduced," concluded Ojomuyide.