Mastercard has expanded its fintech-focused card programme, Product Express, taking the initiative live in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North America.
The products offer fintechs a means to meet customer needs and demands and a reduced time to market by providing tools, resources and partners for launch and scale.
Taking the platform live in four other significant global regions comes after Mastercard successfully rolled out Product Express in Latin America, where it has been utilised by the likes of Foxbit, a crypto-focused Brazilian fintech.
Ricardo Dantas, Foxbit CEO, asserted that the platform “not only expedited our entry into the global payments ecosystem but also strengthened our ability to offer innovative and trustworthy solutions in the crypto market”.
As it stands, one year after the platform launch, Product Express is also being utilised by Mastercard and has brought onto the platform BIN Sponsors, Blusalt, Episode Six, FOO, Giftstarr, i2c Inc., Nymcard, Optimus, Paymentology and Wema Bank.
Jennifer Premisler, SVPof Fintech Solutions at Mastercard, said: “We are thrilled to be expanding the reach of the Product Express to more partners, more regions and more solutions. By creating a better experience for all parties, we foster innovation and reduce time to market.”
The partnership is indicative of the significant role fintechs now play in the global financial sector, with these technology firms now a major part of the ecosystem across all continents.
Various major financial institutions, from payments processing giants like Mastercard to prominent banks like NatWest, have been acutely aware of the importance of engaging with fintechs.
Lee McNabb, NatWest’s Head of Group Payments Strategy and Research, for example, shared his view with Payment Expert earlier this year that fintech is a ‘real part’ of the bank’s strategy.
He said: “It’s a tough macroeconomic environment, investment is down, multiples are down, valuations are down, but from a fintech perspective we wouldn’t be in the market we have without them. We’re an open shop in terms of collaboration with fintechs.”
Mastercard, meanwhile, has strong motivations for engaging with the fintech sector, with the company looking to up its game across a range of technologies lately. High on the firm’s agenda are Open Banking, Artificial Intelligence and biometrics, as its SVP of Security Solutions and Processing, told Payment Expert in the spring.
