Mastercard Track to modernise US$125tril global B2B payments market

• Track will now encompass all current and future B2B payment products
• Mastercard Track Business Payment Service will be rolled out globally, starting in 1H20

ADVANCES in technology and actionable real-time data are driving businesses to operate faster and smarter. Yet, business payments are often rooted in legacy practices established decades ago. Until now.

Mastercard unveiled its plans to modernise the business-to-business (B2B) payment ecosystem with Mastercard Track.

The Track brand of products represents a transformational change for suppliers and buyers:  solutions that will reduce complexity, cut costs and automate processes.

“The business world has accelerated, but the payments that enable it are stuck in neutral - paper checks and manual invoicing need to be scrapped, man-hours need to be applied to more strategic roles and back-offices need tools to help streamline operations,” said James Anderson, executive vice president, Commercial Products.

“Mastercard Track helps supplier and buyer partners tackle the systemic challenges of business-to-business payments, reinventing how businesses send and receive funds so B2B payments can keep pace with innovation and liberate enterprises from the inefficiencies throughout the system.”

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.

A direct connection to greater value, efficiency and control

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 optimize B2B transactions for both suppliers and buyers.

Multiple Payment Types – 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 easily discover suppliers, with visibility into which payment types they accept and under which conditions.

Common Standards – Track Business Payment Service is built on the leading 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.

Richer Data Exchanges – 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.

“We believe now is the time to reinvent this US$125 trillion (RM521 trillion) ecosystem,” added Anderson. “Having all types of payments under one roof, connections to virtually every business-payment partner across the globe and innovation that already digitises and automates legacy infrastructure, Mastercard is the partner uniquely positioned to deliver unmatched capabilities to vastly improve the way businesses conduct trade at scale.”

Pilot rollout, with 2020 availability

The Mastercard Track Business Payment Service will be rolled out globally, starting with the US market in 1H20.

The company will make the product available through supplier and buyer partners who will incorporate it into their existing product offerings; it is being piloted exclusively today by customers in North America ahead of market availability.

Pilot customers and partners include B2B payments optimizer, Boost, payment solutions providers CSI and TSYS, Accounts Receivable (AR) software providers Versapay, YayPay, and HighRadius and Accounts Payable automation provider AvidXchange.