Mastercard introduces Trust Center to help small businesses defend their businesses

By Pavithra R

Mastercard has announced the creation of the Mastercard Trust Center aimed to help small businesses defend their important assets their business and their reputation, through free online access to trusted cybersecurity research, education, resources and tools.

According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), 99.7% of all U.S. private-sector employers are small businesses, and nearly 7 out of 10 American jobs are at a small business. With this scale, it’s easy to understand the importance of this segment and how it fuels the U.S. economy. SMBs are the backbone of economic growth, and Mastercard considers it their mission to help them.

The needs of small businesses have not changed during the pandemic, but they have grown more acute. With the rapid rise in cyberattacks, small businesses are a huge target. According to 2019 Keeper Security survey, 67% of small businesses have experienced a cyber attack, and COVID-19 appears to have intensified this problem.

For most of the small businesses, cybersecurity is an afterthought. Unlike large organizations, many do not have the resources to defend themselves and act once breached. Many do not realize that improving the cybersecurity of one’s business is within one’s control. Mastercard Trust Center is built to change this. 

Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. It’s Cyber & Intelligence team has been working with SMBs, and the Trust Center is the culmination of such work and partnerships. The firm is committed to building a more inclusive digital economy that works for everyone. As part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the firm has pledged $250 mn in financial, technology, product, and insights support over the next five years to SMBs across the globe, supporting the financial security and vitality of businesses and their workers.

Also, read Mastercard launches Cloud Tap on Phone, a cloud point of sale acceptance technology.