Mastercard (NYSE:MA) has entered into a collaboration with 4thWave, a finance, and Banking-as-a-Service digital platform provider, to enhance business-to-business (B2B) payments for Mastercard’s commercial client base in Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA) region. The collaboration leverages 4thWave’s supply-chain finance platform to facilitate seamless management of B2B payments, resulting in improved cash flows for corporate buyers and suppliers.
The partnership will enable Mastercard to enhance its InControl for Commercial Payments (ICCP) solution. ICCP is a virtual card solution that utilizes virtual account numbers for secure and hassle-free supplier payments. Virtual Card Numbers (VCNs) are dynamically generated from real cards, serving as unique identifiers for each business payment while protecting the actual card number. This process allows for straight-through processing, directly transferring virtual card number payments to the supplier’s bank account without manual intervention.
This collaboration reflects Mastercard’s strategic investment in building capabilities to serve the commercial B2B payments space better. The goal is to address operational and financial challenges faced by B2B businesses, tiny and medium enterprises (SMEs), due to ineffective processes and diverse payment systems. The collaboration aims to streamline B2B payments and expedite the collection of receivables to support the growth of businesses in the EEMEA region.
Mastercard has been actively pursuing initiatives to strengthen its position in the growing commercial payments market in EEMEA, estimated at $7 trillion. B2B account payables and receivables constitute more than 85% of these payment flows, emphasizing the significance of the Mastercard-4thWave partnership. The digital economy’s rapid expansion in the region provides an opportunity for Mastercard to offer advanced payment solutions for secure and seamless business transactions.
This collaboration follows Mastercard’s previous partnership with Pluto, a UAE-based financial corporate spending management solutions provider, to enhance B2B payment solutions and security in business payments across the Gulf Cooperation Council.
As of now, Mastercard’s stock has gained 11.8% in the past three months compared to the industry’s 12.9% growth.
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