New programs and new tools for small businesses

It’s been a productive month across the globe for Mastercard Stive. In the Philippines, we announced a new partnership with Boost Capital to enable more than 10,000 small businesses to unlock access to digital financial services, with a focus on women-led enterprises. Boost Capital was previously a Mastercard Strive Innovation Fund winner, demonstrating how financial education can de-risk lending to small businesses in Cambodia. 

We took a closer look at some of our partners’ work in Latin America. Our partner, Hoob Marketing Marketing, reflected on how they harnessed social media's powerful reach to promote educational content to Latin American micro-entrepreneurs by encouraging collaborative dialogue. We also shared more about how we’re working with local networks and strategic partners in the region to support small businesses in building their e-commerce capabilities.

As part of Strive UK, Be the Business has launched a new tool, Ignite, for UK-based small businesses. Entrepreneurs, founders, and small business owners can take Ignite’s quiz and get personalized reports that offer insights into their top strengths, blind spots, and practical bite-sized actionable steps they can take to ignite their businesses. 

In Poland, our partner LBC społeczność kobiet biznesu has launched the GO DIGITAL platform, enabling women-led small businesses to assess their digital readiness and embed digital tools in their day-to-day business. With one-third of small businesses in Poland led by women, this tool will support those that are open to digitization but lack the necessary resources and know-how. 

As always, we invite you to visit our Insights library to learn more about how Strive and our partners are enabling small business growth and resilience worldwide.

Insights

Tern Eco: Making circularity easy for micro- and small businesses

Retail is changing. Sustainability is top of the agenda, and retailers are adopting circular models to retain customers and grow their businesses. Tern Eco’s solution helps small retailers in the UK create brand-owned circular models that meet business objectives and sustainability goals. These models reduce waste while driving customer lifetime value and unlocking new revenue opportunities.

👉 Read more

Supporting small businesses to sell online: How can local providers and networks build small business digital capabilities?

Across Latin America, small merchants, especially those outside big urban centers, are trying to take advantage of the promise of an increasingly digital economy through social media and e-commerce platforms. But how can Strive work to accelerate this promise? And how can partners play a role?

👉 Read more

Harnessing the powerful reach of social media to promote educational content to Latin American micro-entrepreneurs

Empowering small entrepreneurs is crucial for global economic growth in an increasingly interconnected world. However, for this empowerment to be effective, it’s vital to adopt an approach centered on dialogue and active listening.

👉 Read more

Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us at @MastercardStrive and @Mastercard-center-for-inclusive-growth for the latest news, insights and stories.