Mastercard partners with Gramophone to empower 2 million farmers with agri inputs and credit access

New Delhi: Mastercard has collaborated with agritech platform Gramophone to enable 2 million smallholder farmers to access agricultural inputs and credit through the Mastercard Community Pass platform. This initiative aims to empower farmers in remote and offline areas by facilitating offline payments via the Community Pass financial inclusion card.

The Mastercard Community Pass platform provides a digital ecosystem that connects buyers and smallholder farmers, offering access to quality produce, fair prices, and supply chain financing. For farmers, the platform helps ensure access to reliable markets and easy credit, streamlining the agricultural supply chain. The platform’s services include an offline payment card and input credit, which will be introduced in the coming months.

Ricardo Pareja, Head of Community Pass Markets at Mastercard, stated, “In line with the Government of India’s vision to digitize the agriculture sector, Mastercard has been working to bring key stakeholders in the agri ecosystem onto one platform to ease credit and input access for farmers and enhance their incomes. This collaboration with Gramophone will ensure that farmers can access quality inputs of their choice, on easy credit terms, as well as the benefits of digital payments even without internet connectivity or smartphone availability.”

Gramophone, which currently serves over 500,000 farmers, will be instrumental in rolling out these services. The collaboration will allow farmers to purchase agricultural inputs at fair prices and make payments even in areas without internet connectivity. Later this year, the partnership will begin with input services and offline payments, with access to credit expected to follow early next year. 

Gramophone also plans to introduce loyalty and cashback schemes for its members using the offline-enabled card. Additionally, the collaboration will enhance access to working capital for farmer-producer organizations and small retailers, further driving business growth in the agricultural sector.

Tauseef Khan, Co-founder of Gramophone, expressed, “At Gramophone, we have consistently delivered top-tier agronomy advisory and quality products through our, in-house technology platform enabling Input Commerce. Now, we are excited to add Mastercard’s advanced technology stack and partner networks to further enhance India’s agricultural ecosystem. Starting with a pilot in Madhya Pradesh, we will aim to support farmers across India by increasing their incomes by 50-60%, through access to inputs and credit.” 

The Mastercard Community Pass platform is a shared, interoperable digital infrastructure that has already benefited over 2 million Indian farmers across 25 districts in eight states, furthering Mastercard’s commitment to empowering rural populations.