Collaboration

Sharjah Cooperative Society, in collaboration with Sharjah Islamic Bank and MasterCard, launches ‘Coop’ Card

Sharjah Cooperative Society, in collaboration with Sharjah Islamic Bank, announced the launch of two types of Cooperative Cards from MasterCard Prepaid Card, during a press conference that was held yesterday at the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The press conference was attended by Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Amin, board member of Sharjah Cooperative Society, Mr. Mohammed Abdullah, CEO of the Sharjah Islamic Bank and Mr. Eyad Al-Kourdi Vice President and Country Manager UAE MasterCard Worldwide along with a number of senior officials from the two parties as well as media representatives.

Bearing the name of “Coop”, the new card will replace the old Sharjah Cooperative Society’s cards (gold, silver and white) and has a range of new benefits for consumers, including the ability to transfer annual profit to the card’s and to get returns on annual purchases for the Cooperative Society’s purchases. The new prepaid can be used as an alternative payment method to cash when making purchases at various outlets, for payment of online shopping, and acts as ATM card for withdrawing cash.

Speaking on the occasion, ‘Mohamed Ahmed Amin, board member of Sharjah Cooperative Society, said: “Agreement with the Sharjah Islamic Bank has given momentum to the services rendered by the Cooperative Society to its clients. We expect it will attract more clients due to its full flexibility. The common vision we have will allow us to sign more agreements in the future, which will help offer safe transactions and more diverse and additional value.”

He clarified that the new card will replace the old ones, which were in the categories of gold, silver and white. “Coop” Prepaid Card will be issued in two categories, the first of which (gold) will be exclusive to shareholders, while the (standard) category will be available to non-shareholder individuals.

Mr. Mohammed Abdullah, CEO of Sharjah Islamic Bank, said, “The agreement with Sharjah Cooperative Society is in line with the bank’s constant endeavours to offer the best modern banking services to clients, to facilitate their various transactions, and to enable them to make use of the benefits available in a safe and timely manner, which reflects the quality of our various banking products.”

He clarified that the card planned to be issued in collaboration with the Sharjah Cooperative Society and MasterCard will be the first Coop Card of its kind in the country. It has all the benefits of other prepaid cards such as accessibility to millions of outlets and ATMs, in addition to internet purchases. Cardholders can benefit from the protection and safety offered through smart chip technology and a PIN number. It is can also easily be used to make cash deposits through ATMs and at Al Ansari Exchanges.

Mr. Mohammed Abdullah CEO of Sharjah Islamic Bank, said that the agreement is part of the Executive Management’s strategy to sign a series of joint ventures with government and semi-government organizations with the aim to expand the range of the bank’s services through its branches and various e-services to cope up with the rapid development and multiplicity of financial transactions and the need to offer only the best, easiest and most flexible solutions to users.

Commenting on the new card, Eyad Al-Kourdi, Senior Business Leader, Vice President and Country Manager, UAE MasterCard Worldwide, said, “The launch of the Sharjah Islamic Bank and Sharjah Cooperative Society co-branded MasterCard prepaid card is a sign of maturity of the local market that increasingly perceives the importance of displacing cash and the value of using cards instead”.

“We commend Sharjah Islamic Bank and Sharjah Cooperative Society for this fantastic deal and reiterate our endorsement for their current and future efforts to displace cash and provide a priceless experience for their customers and consumers, using innovative payment solutions from MasterCard,” added Al-Kourdi.

The new cards offer a range of compelling benefits to consumers including the ability to access host of new services such as attractive cash returns on purchases and the transfer of annual profit to the card. This will save time and effort for cardholders, as they will receive their annual profits through direct deposit to their cards with no need to receive cheques from the Cooperative Society’s headquarters and then having to go to bank to cash these cheques.