Unlimit and Mastercard’s Digital First Framework: Delivering Secure Payment Experiences

Digital payments have swept commerce at a rapid scale, and consumers now expect their banking and payment experiences to be instant, intuitive, and entirely mobile. Physical cards are no longer the starting point—they are often a secondary feature. This shift is why Mastercard’s Digital First is critical for modern payment providers.

The Mastercard Digital First program provides partners with an end-to-end structure for implementing an all-digital card experience, complete with mobile-first features for physical cards. By achieving Mastercard Digital First, Unlimit ensures that businesses and end users can enjoy stronger card security and frictionless, digital-first issuance experiences. This achievement aligns perfectly with Unlimit’s mission to deliver secure, scalable, and fully digital financial solutions across international markets.

What is Mastercard Digital First?

At its core, Mastercard Digital First is a comprehensive framework designed to create seamless, secure, and instant payment experiences for customers. It sets rigorous industry standards for security, innovation, and user experience, covering the entire customer journey across four key pillars:

1. Acquire: Near real-time, completely digital customer onboarding.
2. Use: Secure, mobile-first payment options, such as digital wallet push provisioning.
3. Control: Easy access to card controls and management features via an app.
4. Engage: Providing a richer digital experience that elevates the card’s usage.

The value of digital first: for you and your business

For Consumers: The value is simple – seamlessness and security. When a provider is Digital First certified, it means you can expect instant digital card issuance after approval, immediate provisioning into your favourite digital wallets (like Apple Pay or Google Pay) for secure mobile contactless payments, and all the controls you need right on your phone, minimising the need to wait for a physical card to arrive.

For Businesses: For companies issuing cards, this program is a commitment to excellence that translates directly into measurable business growth. Deploying proven Digital First capabilities helps businesses stay “top of wallet” by driving stronger customer engagement and operational efficiencies. According to Mastercard data, these implementations lead to significant performance improvements, including:

• A 10% increase in contactless transactions.
• A 7% increase in transactions per active account.
• An 8.6 basis point reduction in fraud costs.

Unlimit’s commitment to innovation and technological advancement

Becoming a certified Mastercard Digital First partner affirms that Unlimit’s platform delivers excellence across all four pillars of the framework. Specifically, it encompasses:

• Seamless in-app consumer onboarding with near real-time digital card issuance.
• Secure mobile contactless payments facilitated by push provisioning into digital wallets.
• Enhanced digital card experiences that enrich physical cards with mobile-first features and functionality.

Irene Skrynova, Chief Customer Officer at Unlimit, commented on the significance of this milestone:

“Partnering with  Mastercard’s Digital First framework represents a significant milestone in our commitment to innovation and customer success. This program confirms that our digital card issuing platform delivers the comprehensive, secure experiences that modern consumers expect, while providing our clients with the operational efficiencies needed to scale in competitive markets. We’re proud to offer merchants a Mastercard-certified solution that delivers stronger customer engagement and enables them to unlimit their business results.”

Partnering with Mastercard’s Digital First framework further strengthens Unlimit’s position as a global financial technology leader, complementing our industry-leading portfolio of payment solutions across emerging and established markets. By meeting the highest industry standards for security, innovation, and user experience, we empower our customers’ digital transformation initiatives with the world’s largest, future-ready payments infrastructure.