Mastercard modernizes business payments by adding A2A payments functionality

By Pavithra R

Mastercard has announced the addition of Account-to-Account (A2A) payments functionality to Mastercard Track Business Payment Service. Track Business Payment Service offers businesses greater control of their payments and supports data exchanges and payments automation without the need to share sensitive bank account information. 

The launch represents the next phase in Mastercard’s journey to modernize business payments by solving persistent pain points that Buyers and Suppliers experience. Business can now exchange data with greater efficiency and facilitate payments across multiple payment rails, including Real Time Payments (RTP) and the Automated Clearing House (ACH) in the U.S. The risk of bank account data being compromised dwindles because Suppliers no longer have to share their confidential bank account details with Buyers, nor does the Buyers.

“Today, the vast majority of B2B payments are made through bank account transfers. Extending Mastercard Track Business Payment Service to support these transfers is a step on our way to building out the best and most secure B2B payment network in the world. Our commitment to supporting multiple payment rails has always been about helping customers operate more efficiently and effectively leveraging all the capabilities available in the market with as little change as possible. This milestone is another step in the journey away from paper-based frustration, incomplete data and manual reconciliation work and toward a fully digitized business payments process,” said James Anderson, Executive Vice President of Global Commercial and B2B Solutions at Mastercard.

Mastercard has announced the availability of A2A payment functionality in Track Business Payment Service in the U.S. and has plans to extend availability to other regions by the end of 2021.

“Traditional approaches to making and receiving B2B payments are inefficient, unnecessarily complex and risky. The combination of the Mastercard Track Business Payment Service and Transcard’s integration platform eliminates friction in B2B payments by digitally connecting buyers and sellers and facilitating touch-free real-time payments and the exchange of rich remittance information directly between trading partner ERPs and banks,” said Greg Bloh, CEO of Transcard.

Recently, Payment24 partnered with Mastercard to offer secure payment processes for fleet operators.

Established since 1966, Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. The firm is committed to building a more inclusive digital economy that works for everyone. It is also making Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) central to its business model. The firm is also planning to advance cross-border payments next year.