Mastercard Joins Hands with Birmingham to Help Local Businesses Get Digital

Mastercard, a global technology company in the payments industry, announced that with the pandemic significantly impacting Birmingham's small and minority owned businesses, it has joined hands with the Birmingham Department of Innovation and Economic Opportunity to introduce the program Ascend Birmingham to help local small businesses pivot to digital operations and thrive in an age of a more digitally engaged consumer. 

With support from Square, Accion Opportunity Fund and Sunrise by Lendio, Ascend Birmingham will provide education, tools and resources focused on building out an effective digital presence, accepting digital payments, growing and managing their businesses, gaining access to capital, and keeping their businesses and customers protected.

Mastercard and the City of Birmingham have also partnered to deliver a city focused Digital Doors platform with always-on content and resources for local owners.

"The City of Birmingham is thrilled to partner with Mastercard on this key initiative, which will go a long way in reaching our goal of making Birmingham a hub for minority-owned small businesses," said Mayor Woodfin. 

"We applaud the efforts of Mayor Woodfin and the Department of Innovation & Economic Opportunity to ensure the endurance of Birmingham-based small businesses and are proud to partner with the city so that owners have access to the tools and resources necessary to thrive in today's digital age," said Michael Froman, vice chairman and president Strategic Growth for Mastercard. "The resiliency and drive of small business owners is unprecedented and supporting their recovery is the single most important thing we can all do for economic and social vitality." 

Fazzaco reported that Mastercard recently announced a new Start Path global startup engagement program ​dedicated to supporting fast-growing digital assets, blockchain and cryptocurrency companies.