Cashless Block

As a leading technology company, Mastercard is dedicated to consistent efforts to facilitate digitalization in Romania and inclusion via wide access to modern payments for everyone. While card payments are gaining ground year to year, some aspects of everyday life still seem to be cash-bound forever. However, this is not the case for monthly payment of building utilities anymore, because earlier this year, Mastercard launched Cashless Block – I want to pay my monthly building utilities by card!, the first platform in Romania that relieves people of the chore of always having to carry cash when visiting the administrator.

First, Mastercard partnered with Unicredit to ensure the infrastructure needed for the project. Second, the first POS in Romania was installed in a block in Bucharest and the brand along with the building’s administrator announced residents that card payments were ON. Then, Mastercard documented how this impacted the whole block ecosystem, from the administrator starting an amateur campaign to convince his neighbours to go cashless, to how this was perceived within the community. The Cashless Block video was posted on social media channels to show the wide public what the new experience is like. Moreover, Mastercard launched an online tool: www.bloculfaracash.ro to help other buildings go cashless, but also to help administrators make a campaign for their neighbours.

Turning cash irrelevant in an area historically dominated by cash and relieving people from having to visit the ATM is a bold and innovative course of events on behalf of Mastercard. Thus, another chapter of the brand’s Smart cities goal in Romania was unlocked.