- The new partnership will offer a range of services to small and medium-sized enterprises in the EEA.
- The services will include the capacity for secure cross-border payments as well as cash flow management.
- “At Mastercard, we are committed to remaining the partner of choice for businesses of all sizes and to powering economies,” said a senior Mastercard figure.
Well-known financial services institution Mastercard has announced a partnership with the fintech firm Octet Europe.
The two firms will work on a package of solutions offered to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the European Economic Area (EEA).
This package will include a secure payment service designed for making cross-border payments.
Overall, the package will be called the Mastercard Trade Solution and will also offer the chance for cash flow management and value chain monitoring.
There will also be a risk management element to the new service.
Octet’s business-to-business trade platform works to find out and monitor information about the firms it interacts with, including when it comes to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules as well as Know Your Customer (KYC) rules.
Consequently, one of the aims of the partnership, according to Mastercard, is to help smaller firms trade and pay internationally with confidence and trust.
In terms of cash flow, the new service will mean that Mastercard customers can use their cards to add a degree of transaction flexibility – even if some participants are not geared up for card payments.
According to Milan Gauder, who serves as the executive vice president of product and innovation at Mastercard Europe, the new offer will allow smaller firms to “thrive in the global economy”.
“Small business owners can incur a lot of expenses by running detailed background checks on their supply chain, especially if it involves cross-border suppliers,” he said.
“This in turn can limit their willingness and ability to grow their business internationally.
“The Mastercard Trade Solution powered by Octet will help the vital SME sector thrive in the global economy by unlocking their potential with flexibility, confidence and peace of mind.”
He added that the firm wanted to be “the partner of choice” for clients of any size.
“At Mastercard, we are committed to remaining the partner of choice for businesses of all sizes and to powering economies,” he said.
On Octet Europe’s part, the firm’s CEO and co-founder Margrith Lütschg-Emmenegger added that her company was “excited and delighted” about the development.
“We are excited and delighted to be partnering with Mastercard and see tremendous potential in making our unique product offering available to SMEs across Europe via their powerful partner network,” she said.
“It is an exceptional opportunity to create more usage of corporate cards for procurement and trade, which will greatly support SME’s and their role in sustaining global supply chains,” she added.
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