We have seen how the metaverse is catching the attention of big companies and investors around the world because of its great potential in the field of social media and gaming. For this very reason, companies like Facebook have even changed their name (Meta), establishing strong partnerships with each other.
In fact, Meta has recently partnered with Mastercard, one of the largest payment services in the world.Â
The partnership
SMEs often struggle with digital equipment and access to virtual data. This is because they lack almost always the right infrastructure and technologies. That’s why, especially in the last years of the pandemic, SMEs are modernizing, looking for increasingly better digital means to offer quality services to their customers.
In particular, the ability to pay with digital tools, as in the case of e-commerce, is crucial to the success of an emerging company. In this regard, Meta has partnered with Mastercard with the goal of “providing the digital skills necessary for startups and small businesses to survive, recover and deliver results online and offline.
In fact, according to the Meta and Mastercard teams, SMEs are the most important part of local communities and populations that trust small business owners rather than big companies.
As far as the Middle East and Africa are concerned, for example, several difficulties were encountered during the COVID period. However, future prospects are very positive. Indeed, the 2021 Mastercard MEA SME Confidence Index found that 74% of SMEs in the region are optimistic about future growth in digitization.
How will the partnership funds be distributed?
Regarding the funds dedicated to this collaboration, Mastercard will allocate $250,000,000 over 5 years to improve the financial security of SMEs. In addition, the goal would be to connect 50 million companies, half of which are formed by women entrepreneurs.Â
To further help small businesses grow, both Meta and Mastercard have conducted webinars in which they will teach mastering uncertainty, and dealing with entrepreneurship.Â
This is critical for new entrepreneurs who, no matter how decisive and confident they may be in their project, experience difficult times related not only to entrepreneurship itself, but also to the damage done by COVID-19.
Moreover, in a society where blockchain, cryptocurrency and metaverse are becoming mainstream, you can’t be left behind, especially if you want to succeed with your business. In fact, even big companies like Adidas and Nike are investing in this sector, which seems to be the future not only of gaming, but also of social networks.
As far as the Middle East is concerned, on the other hand, the digitalization process is going faster and faster, with the city of Dubai reaching one by one the goals of the paperless strategy.
Conclusions
It’s not difficult to see that an area like digitization now represents what our future will be.
To give you a little better understanding of what we’re talking about, we’ll leave you with a preview video offered by Meta, which shows in a practical way what the metaverse is.
