MasterCard to expand Farm Pass offering, says will improve market access

Pune: The payments firm MasterCard says that it has rolled out its Farm Pass programme, under its social and financial inclusion Community Pass programme, to a million Indian farmers by working with its fintech, agri-tech partners and others down the farming chain, including farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and small farmers themselves.

Tara Nathan, MasterCard’s executive vice president of its humanitarian and development vertical, said in an interaction with TOI that Farm Pass has been currently rolled out in six states, including Maharashtra, and more states are in line for a rollout in 2023, such as West Bengal, Telangana, and Odisha, among others. She said that the initiative is primarily aimed at more financial solvency, and access to markets.

In the markets that it has rolled out the Farm Pass in, MasterCard has worked with entities such as LEAF and BASIX, which work in the farm sector in various parts of India, to spread awareness and work with entities in the sector to digitise working capital sourcing, market access, and on-time payments.

“We are leveraging technology and providing critical services to farmers, within our B2B2C model of business, while aiming to carry this on as a sustainable business as well. The small farmers need digital tools and rails in order to access more capital and markets. Otherwise, sub-optimal decisions have to be made by them regarding farming such as the sourcing of seeds and fertilisers,” Tara said.

She added that governments can also play a major role in improving access for digital tools and its services for farmers, particularly throught the sponsoring of FPOs, as well as the push in agricultural finance as a priority lending sector.