Feed a child at school and you will help him out of hunger but in the future also out of poverty, improving his health and education, also for the benefit of gender equality. This is the challenge launched by Mastercard, the American giant of digital payments. And the numbers are, indeed, colossus: 100 million meals at school were the goal, worldwide, launched in July 2017. Italy alone donated almost 6 million meals out of the 5 planned, thus climbing on the podium - together with the United Kingdom and Colombia - of the ranking entirely within the geography of the credit card group which operates in about a hundred countries. The 2018 data have not yet been published but Italy should remain among the top three areas that support the solidarity initiative.
To be able to achieve objectives of this magnitude, Mastercard does not operate alone: it makes use of collaborations and agreements with major players such as the World Food Program, the most important humanitarian organization and United Nations agency working to eradicate hunger in over eighty countries and assisting around 80 million people every year. And, limited to Italy, of Caritas. The framework in which this work, which started in 2014, is inserted is that of financial inclusion and the sustainability objectives that they received a strong push from the current president and CEO Ajay Banga, determined to combine the objectives of expanding the Mastercard business worldwide with that of financial inclusion for those who are currently excluded. In the end, the more general objective – with positive effects for everyone – is that of fight against inequalities and the reduction of existing imbalances on the planet.
STRATEGY AND BUSINESS TO GET OUT OF POVERTY
“There are above all two – explains Gaetano Carboni, executive vice president of Mastercard's Cause Enablement Department – the lines of activity on which we are committed. On the one hand we have the goals of financial inclusion, aimed at giving payment instruments to those who do not have any. On the other we follow a marketing strategy to follow our customers in their passions. This generates sponsorships – for example of the Venice festival or the Champions League – but also the commitment to civil liability. A theme, the latter, on which women and young people are particularly sensitive”.
The third “leg” is the Mastercard Foundation which proceeds in a completely independent way and which is considered among the top 5 private philanthropic foundations in the world. When Mastercard was listed on the Stock Exchange in 2006 the shareholders, mainly banks and financial institutions, decided to allocate 10% of the shares to the Foundation. Out of an initial capitalization of 5 billion, it was about 500 million. Today that capital has revalued to 20 billion, in line with the growth of Mastercard's capitalization which has risen to around 200 billion in twelve years. The figure corresponds to a giant that has well over 2 billion cards distributed worldwide, with about 50 million connected establishments and 27.000 issuers (including banks and other financial institutions).
A MEAL AT SCHOOL AND THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS OF THE UN
Making it possible to get out of poverty and conquer new spaces for business expansion: Mastercard's choice was to combine its advertising campaigns, for example for the dissemination of contactless systems, with charitable actions on the issues of social responsibility and shared value. Hence, among others, the decision to finance school meals which, he explains more Carboni, “allow us to hook the first five gods 17 Sustainable development goals of the UN to transform the world. In particular, these are the fight against poverty and hunger, the improvement of education, health and gender equality. By providing school meals we can hook all five of us.”
In carrying out its solidarity campaigns, Mastercard makes use of its partners (banks or merchants) and humanitarian organizations such as the World Food Programme. For the next few years, agreements are also being studied with Save The Children and with Unicef. The money to cover the cost of the campaigns comes almost entirely from Mastercard itself and its financial partners, but individual customers can also make a contribution by subscribing to the specially dedicated platform and on which, once registered, it is possible to permanently establish allocate – for example 10 cents – for each transaction made. From that moment on, the levy will take place automatically and will thus help to swell the flow of money destined for solidarity.
SUSTAINABILITY: AN ESSENTIAL VALUE FOR COMPANIES
Mastercard is not the only large group working to achieve those sustainability objectives - environmental, economic, social - which are becoming increasingly important for obtaining the consent of the populations in a world increasingly torn apart by conflicts and sovereignties. With states raising defensive barriers, the contribution of private individuals has become increasingly important. And the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, which started out on the sly, are making headway. Enel entered as the world's first energy company on the United Nations board for the Global Compact, but there are countless examples of agreements and collaborations in place between companies and humanitarian workers. Even sectors distant from the masses, such as the luxury sector, take this into account. And it is no coincidence that Bulgari has been carrying out a project with Save the Children since 2009.
