Mastercard Collaborates with ADM to Advance Digitalization and Financial Inclusion Among Indian Farmers

On October 10, 2024, Mastercard announced its collaboration with Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM), a global leader in innovative solutions from nature, to enhance the digitalization of ADM’s Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and their farmer partners base in Maharashtra, India. ADM would register its FPOs, collection centers and farmers for participation in Farm Pass, a technology powered by Mastercard. The collaboration aims to scale ADM’s direct sourcing from smallholder farmers, within the farmer-FPO channel. ADM would also leverage existing Farm Pass programs to encourage more FPOs in the region to join their oilseeds sourcing program.

As part of the collaboration, ADM intends to work with Mastercard Community Pass card issuers to scale offerings of unique financial inclusion and loyalty solutions that could reach approximately 250,000 farmers. The initiative allows farmers and FPOs to receive the value for produce sold to ADM directly onto Community Pass financial inclusion cards. ADM would also have the opportunity to offer farmers innovative loyalty benefits. These financial inclusion cards would provide access to credit and government welfare schemes for the farmers and are expected to facilitate USD 30 million in welfare schemes and credit flow over the next few years.

Community Pass is a digital platform that includes the existing Farm Pass program offering and connects the agricultural ecosystem – farmers, agri-buyers, lenders and other service providers – to enable farmers to adjust their supply and production according to the demand for their crops. Mastercard Community Pass enables low-income communities to access critical services through interoperable digital technology to provide a unified user experience and divide the cost of delivering digital services between multiple service providers like governments, banks, and agriculture technology firms.

By connecting ADM’s supply chain with Mastercard’s Community Pass digital infrastructure, the collaboration would not only improve operational efficiency but also deliver tangible benefits to smallholder farmers in Maharashtra.

Commenting on the impact of the collaboration, Tara Nathan, Executive Vice President and Founder, Mastercard Community Pass, said, “Digitalization can offer great value to farming communities across India. Mastercard is delighted to collaborate with ADM to empower smallholder farmers and FPOs by enabling digital access to buyers and increasing transparency in the value chain. This initiative reaffirms Mastercard’s commitment to leveraging technology and innovation to drive inclusive growth.”

Starting with Maharashtra, the two entities hope to seek to expand their collaboration to include smallholder farmers in other Indian states.

Amrendra Mishra, Managing Director - Oilseeds and Country Manager, India, Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, said, “This partnership has the potential to bring greater predictability in our supply chain and to empower farmers through financial inclusion. Simultaneously, we aim to support FPOs in expanding their business and serving farmers more effectively. We are excited to expand our efforts through this collaboration to support the agricultural sector in Maharashtra, including the communities we serve.”