Mastercard unveils plans to modernise global B2B payments
Mastercard has unveiled its plans to modernise the business-to-business (B2B) payment ecosystem with Mastercard Track. The payments company says the Track brand of products represents a transformational change for suppliers and buyers: solutions that will reduce complexity, cut costs and automate processes.
Mastercard launched Track in 2018 as a trade platform to address identity, compliance and payment management needs. As a secure, permissioned repository of more than 210 million registered entities worldwide, the trade directory is a central component to the expanded suite of products and services. Track will now encompass all current and future B2B payment products – a collection of tools and services that will significantly improve and simplify the way businesses pay and get paid.
Central to the growing Track portfolio is the new Mastercard Track Business Payment Service, a single connection bringing together multiple payment types, greater control and richer data to optimise B2B transactions for both suppliers and buyers.
Speaking on an investment community meeting call on 12 September, Mastercard’s chief product officer, Michael Miebach, noted that the Mastercard Track Business Payment Service goes “beyond even what we have done with the Mastercard Track B2B Hub, which was an outsourcing solution mainly focused on accounts payable. [The new solution is] looking accounts payable and accounts receivable.”
The three pillars that the new solution aims to offer are multiple payment types, common standards, and richer data exchanges. As a multi-rail company, Mastercard is bringing choice of how to pay and get paid – ACH/account-to-account and card-based payments – to one solution with Track Business Payment Service. Suppliers can set customised payment preferences that work best for their business. Buyers can discover suppliers, with visibility into which payment types they accept and under which conditions.
Track Business Payment Service is built on the PCI and ISO standards to maximise automation and secure data exchange, accelerating the reconciliation process by supporting all file formats. Supplier terms and conditions will be applied to payments through a centralised directory for added transparency.
Every transaction is processed with the data that is needed by the supplier. Remittance data, including buyer identification information and corresponding invoice numbers will eliminate the guessing game of aligning funds with invoices, making reconciliation easier and simplifying cash flow management.
The payment service will be rolled out globally, starting with the US market in the first half of 2020. The company will make the product available through supplier and buyer partners who will incorporate it into their existing product offerings. It is currently being piloted by customers in North America ahead of market availability. Pilot customers and partners include B2B payments optimiser Boost, payment solutions providers CSI and TSYS, accounts receivable (AR) software providers VersaPay, YayPay, and HighRadius, and accounts payable automation provider AvidXchange.
