IDB Signs ElTarek Deal for Co-Branded Mastercard Credit Cards

Industrial Development Bank has signed an agreement with ElTarek for Automotive to issue co-branded Mastercard credit cards in Egypt, extending the bank's retail products to the car dealer's customers.

The cards are available to ElTarek clients, including people buying new cars and those who use its service centres. They come in three tiers: Titanium, Platinum and World Elite.

Every card in the range bundles offers and benefits drawn from all three partners. World Elite holders also get access to The Mastercard Collection, which provides dining, travel, airport and event privileges at participating locations.

Applications are accepted at IDB branches and at ElTarek showrooms.

Hussein Refaie, IDB's chief executive and managing director, called the agreement an important step in strengthening retail banking and introducing products that address customer needs. The bank said the deal supports a plan to broaden its product range, reach more clients and form new partnerships. It expects the cards to grow its retail business and the use of digital payments.

Mohamed Assem, Mastercard's country manager for Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, said the collaboration combines technology and expertise with benefits tailored to car owners, and supports the growth of Egypt's digital economy. Mastercard said digital payments are increasingly tied to each step of the customer journey, and that it aims to serve car owners from vehicle purchase through daily spending.

ElTarek, which serves car owners through its service centres, said the card adds a banking product to the relationship it already has with those customers.

Tying card issuance to a car purchase gives the bank a route to retail customers at a moment when they are already committing to a large outlay, without having to build that distribution itself. For ElTarek, the card stretches a service relationship past maintenance and repairs.