The news: Mastercard unveiled Priceless Africa on its lifestyle and travel platform, per a press release. 

This update brings curated adventures exclusive to Mastercard cardholders across nine African markets, including South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, and Zimbabwe. The launch will be supported by Mastercard’s new travel campaign: “You Have To Be Here.” 

How we got here: The competition is on to provide the most exclusive and desirable rewards for cardholders. 

This builds on Mastercard’s previous efforts to offer cardholders live music perks and sends a volley back to its biggest competitor, Visa, which debuted Visa Destinations, an enhanced travel program.

Why this matters: Mastercard’s investment in African travel destinations brings more covetable travel opportunities to US travelers and more commerce to the continent’s merchants. The region is a fast-growing tourism hub: 81 million travelers visited the area last year, up 8% YoY, per UN Tourism. 

Priceless Africa connects with the 84% travelers who say they want “off-the-beaten-path” trips and visits to emerging locations, per Mastercard’s Travel Trendline report. And it could also encourage more African merchants to join Mastercard’s network, which is an area of investment for the company: Mastercard grew its acceptance network in Africa by 45% in 2025 and hopes to capture $1.5 trillion worth of digital transactions on the continent by 2030.

Implications for payment providers: Targeting unique regional travel destinations for rewards and promotions can encourage more US traveler travel spending and more foreign enrollment on networks and card programs. 

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