Mastercard launches Priceless Cities programme in South Asia

Mastercard has launched its flagship programme - Priceless Cities, in South Asia. Starting with Sri Lanka, the programme will allow international travellers to gain exclusive access to several unique experiences when they visit the island destination. Priceless Cities is a programme available exclusively to Mastercard cardholders and provides access to experiences in the cities where one lives and travels. Currently, the programme covers over 40 cities and destinations.

A press release from the brand mentions that India accounts for the largest number of visitors to Sri Lanka. According to official estimates, approximately 425, 000 Indian tourists were expected to visit the country in 2019. Be it embracing history and heritage, witnessing the colonial charm of the central highland tea estates, or experiencing the excitement of Colombo, Priceless Cities will unlock several unique experiences for Mastercard cardholders.

“Mastercard has identified 10 areas or passion points that people care about. Travel is one of them. With the launch of Priceless Cities in South Asia, Mastercard cardholders will be able to experience an immersive way to travel by enjoying privileged access and attractive offers. The ‘once in a lifetime’ experiences will let them live their passions, something that money cannot buy. This will help Indians who are increasingly aspiring to enjoy offbeat and unique activities, vacation closer to home in Sri Lanka,’’ says Manasi Narasimhan, vice president, marketing and communications, South Asia, Mastercard.

Among other global experiences on offer are the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix with behind-the-scenes access, helicopter rides across Paris, exclusive dining experiences in Prague or ballet experiences in New York City.

We had the opportunity to connect with Narasimhan over telephone and she mentioned that these days, consumers are more drawn to experiences than material goods. "As a brand, it's important to really build a relationship with your consumers. This is the mantra behind most of the marketing initiatives we have taken up," she says.

She mentions that one way in which technology has changed how they function is how local businesses have found a new field of operations online and another area of revenue. "Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets are growing in a big way now and we are undertaking activities to create awareness about the benefits of cashless transactions, since most of these users still operate with cash," she says.

During the course of the conversation, Netflix India's Original show Jamtara came up. The show focuses on card-scammers from a small village called Jamtara from Jharkhand. Narasimhan agrees that phishing is a growing problem these days - "You'd be surprised at how easily even educated adults fall for these scams. When someone calls and claims to be from a bank, there's no way of cross-verifying that information. We have checks and measures in place to ensure that there is a two step authentication process whenever a user is trying to complete a transaction but still, there are incidents that come up," she says.

"Wherever we try to create awareness, the information we're giving out is the same. Don't share sensitive account information or card details or OTPs etc. As long as there is a problem, we will strive to create awareness and protect our consumers," she signs off.