Mastercard and Fuelin Drive MENA Mobility Payments into the Digital Age

Mastercard has teamed up with Fuelin, the Egypt‑based fleet-tech startup, in a move that could give mobility payments across the MENA region a long‑overdue digital shake‑up. I’ve seen plenty of fleets in the region still wrestling with cash, vouchers and a whole lot of manual admin, so this partnership feels spot on — even if rolling out new systems can be a bit of a faff at first.

The idea is simple enough: Fuelin’s real‑time controls and analytics will plug directly into Mastercard’s global network, allowing businesses to shift from old‑school fuel payments to instant, data‑driven digital transactions. In practice, that means fleets will be able to issue both virtual and physical commercial cards operating across Mastercard’s open‑loop ecosystem. Every transaction can be authorised, capped or monitored on the spot, backed by security features like tokenisation and contactless payments.

Mastercard’s Muhammad Nana described the move as an important step in digitising mobility operations in the Middle East, noting that the collaboration brings expanded commercial card acceptance, advanced security and the scale of a global network into a sector that’s traditionally relied on much heavier processes.

What caught my eye, though, is how the partnership goes beyond payments. Fuelin’s platform will link card programmes to station‑level offers and services — from oil changes to quick repairs — effectively giving fleet managers one dashboard to track drivers, vehicles, CO2 savings, expenses and reconciliation across different stations. It’s the sort of operational clarity many managers I’ve met would be chuffed to bits to finally have.

Fuelin’s CEO, Karim Gamal, framed it as turning every fuelling stop into a data point that saves businesses time and money. And believe it or not, blending the precision of closed-loop systems with the reach of open-loop payments could actually solve that long-running tension between control and convenience. I reckon some fleets will still hesitate at first — change isn’t everyone’s cup of tea — but the upside is hard to ignore.

For fuel stations, the benefits come in faster checkouts, fewer mistakes, better access to loyalty features, and clearer insight into the B2B customers they’re serving. On the flip side, governments and regulators stand to gain more transparency, stronger digital commerce trails and improved environmental reporting where required.

As someone who’s watched MENA startups battle inefficiencies that drain time and resources, I can’t help thinking this kind of shift — from cash-heavy to controlled, real-time digital payments — has been a long time coming. It compresses tasks that once took days into seconds, reduces fraud and leakage, and makes compliance far less of a headache… well, mostly. And if it nudges the mobility space into a more modern rhythm, that’s definately a win for everyone trying to build the next big thing in the region.

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