Venture capital for female entrepreneurs is limited, and traditional credit and other resources for women business owners has been hard to come by. That needs to change.

Micro-, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises Day is on June 27th. It's an important time to acknowledge the pivotal role small businesses play in advancing financial inclusion and to advocate for tailored solutions that support their growth.

Costa Rica’s artisans are tapping the tourist market by going digital: “We’re women with quite a few years between us, but we’ve not given up and stopped learning,” says painter Luz Amparo Rodriguez.

How the Mastercard Artist Accelerator combines the power of blockchain with the timeless passion of music for artists and fans

Venezuela-born performer and producer Manu Manzo, now based in Miami, is one of five artists who will learn to build their community and make music in a Web3 world.

Among the world’s most iconic athletes, the Brazilian superstar's relationship with Mastercard spanned more than 25 years, including a 2018 short film about the unifying power of football.

Costurando Esperança — Sewing Hope — is a collective empowering female entrepreneurs in a tiny Paraíba village.

In 1997, Mastercard launched a beautiful TV commercial that captured the hearts of people around the world. This was the introduction of Priceless, showcasing enduring moments in life that money cannot buy, and shining a light on what is truly priceless. And it became an instant hit.

Startup founders— including Maite Muñiz of Columbia's Truora and Dulce Frau of Chile's Locales Conectados — share their advice.

A Honduran shoe designer is teaching her techniques to women in remote fishing villages, putting them on a path forward to sustainable living.

One in five people in Latin America have purchased crypto. Argentina’s belo and Brazil’s Bitfy are making it easier to embrace digital assets.

In Latin America, entrepreneurship is not only an employment opportunity for women, but also a channel through which to make a difference in their lives, their families, and their communities.

Anjelica Acosta of IncluirTec, who has struggled to access capital for her own startup, shares her advice for women building their own businesses.

Buying digital goods should be as simple as buying a T-shirt or coffee pods on an e-commerce site. You can make your purchase with one click — that's it.

On its face, 2021 might not have seemed like the year cryptocurrency got serious.

As the world continued to navigate the pandemic’s impacts last year, we saw digital habits become even more ingrained, from the continued rise in contactless payments to more small businesses than ever joining the digital economy.

Over the last eighteen months, the world has experienced renowned change favoring a new digital lifestyle that presents both opportunities and challenges in today’s economies across Latin America and the Caribbean.

One of the most recent innovations was the introduction of Open Banking in Brazil, that is, the possibility of sharing consumer-permissioned financial data across institutions in a standardized manner.

Your hairstylist who once insisted on cash now has an app for tips. The vendor at the local crafts fair texts you a code to pay for your macramé. And your landlord wonders if you can cover next month’s rent in crypto.

The Government of Panama has announced that it will join a growing group of nations in taking a strategic approach to digitization, launching a Digital Country Partnership in cooperation with Mastercard.  This is a multi-pronged approach that aims to accelerate inclusive economic growth – a strategy key to driving recovery and enabling societies to thrive again.

International Women’s Day and Women’s Month aim to celebrate the achievements of women and their contributions to better society.  This year’s celebration feels particularly worthy after a pandemic that has tested women and their roles, specifically their status in the workforce.

For women and girls to develop their full potential, there must be a change of mentality and concrete programs that support their initiatives.

For millions of women, digital inclusion is a critical step in strengthening their economic potential. In a year when the health and economic implications of COVID-19 were felt by so many, women specifically have been disproportionally impacted.

As we increasingly move away from paper processes, digital solutions are growing and reshaping how the world approaches business and commerce around the world. A new, digital-first type of currency is diversifying the payments landscape and responding to a renewed call for digital-first solutions.

Like a growing number of countries across the world, The Bahamas has explored issuing its own digital currency, an equivalent version of paper currency but available only in a virtual form.

Whatever your opinions on cryptocurrencies — from a dyed-in-wool fanatic to utter skeptic — the fact remains that these digital assets are becoming a more important part of the payments world.

4Told FinTech is working with Start Path, Mastercard’s startup engagement program, to give borrowers a special credit card to help control the risk of the loan in the value chain ecosystem. The money earned on the project is directly deposited onto this card and a certain amount is assured to the lender while the rest goes to the borrower.

As our region starts to pave its way toward recovery, and hope for a quick distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine increases, we must now think of ways to move forward.

In 2020, we digitalized. 2021 offers more time to be at home with the family, the rise of contactless technologies, and a more conservative use of personal finances, writes Walter Pimenta, Senior Vice President for Product and Innovation at Mastercard.

Collective efforts within the private sector can drive economic growth in a more efficient, inclusive, sustainable and fair way.

Your morning cup of coffee depends on smallholder farmers. A partnership in Mexico and Colombia is bringing them the digital tools and financial training to sustain their business for future generations.

To inspire a positive response in the marketplace, we must first inspire optimism in the world around us.

Even in the middle of a global health crisis, our responsibility to the environment remains. We’re reposting this piece from January for Earth Day as a reminder that the fates of our planet, our health and our economies are inextricably linked. Now is not the time to forsake one, especially if our collective goal is to buoy the others.

The outbreak is impacting the health of our loved ones, our businesses, and our global economy.

COVID-19 has become part of our new reality. At best, we are faced with the new challenges of social isolation and figuring out how to use digital connections to stay close with our family, friends and colleagues and to help our children continue to learn.