Mastercard (NYSE:MA) announced Thursday that it is expanding its Engage partner network to include open banking services, providing customers with access to various technology partners that can develop and operate open banking solutions for payments and loan decisions at scale. Initially, Dwolla, FinTech Automation, i2c, Link Financial Technology, LoanPro, Nova Credit, Provenir, Synctera, Tern, and Usio joined Mastercard (MA) Engage for open banking.
Mastercard (MA) announced that, in response to the rapid adoption of open banking, consumer-permitted data access, and digital tools across financial services, it will collaborate with tech partners to promote innovation through access to its open platform, which includes lending, payments, and financial management. According to the company’s 2022 New Payment Index, 83% of worldwide consumers utilize digital tools for at least one financial task, and more than half use technology for at least five chores.
Jess Turner, executive vice president, Global Open Banking and API at Mastercard (NYSE:MA), said, The partners joining Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Engage are pioneering the adoption of open banking solutions that are designed with security at their core and will assist to meet customers’ financial demands and empower choice (MA). Mastercard (MA) and its technology partners enable businesses to establish direct, consumer-authorized connections with their customers’ bank accounts via open banking.
Mastercard (NYSE:MA) has a long history of collaborating with technology and fintech partners to shape the future of financial services and expand customer options. The more partners Mastercard (NYSE:MA) has, with three billion cardholders and 93 million retailers, the more strong our network gets. Since 2018, around 150 global partners have joined the Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Engage program. In the last year alone, nearly 100 Engage partners assisted their customers in deploying new, innovative solutions on more than 250 million Mastercard (NYSE:MA) digital services accounts, including all-digital consumer payments experiences, tokenization, digital wallet, mobile POS solutions, and now open banking.
Mastercard (NYSE:MA) and its technology partners enable businesses to establish direct, consumer-authorized links with their customers’ bank accounts via open banking. By authenticating bank account ownership through these consumer-permitted links, businesses can validate accounts for payments and payouts, and check balances to avoid payment failures, and reduce fraud. This has improved the payment experience for businesses and customers alike.
Similarly, borrowers can directly authorize ecosystem data and insights to help their loan decision-making processes. This also offers a better lending experience for both the lender and the borrower, since it delivers financial insights, enlarged data sets not available with paper submissions, enhanced financial inclusion, and a streamlined process. Partner Linked and Partner Direct are two new direct implementation alternatives provided by the Engage program. These approaches allow seamless and secure implementation of consumer-permitted data via Mastercard’s open banking services. They can be used simultaneously or independently, depending on the financial technology provider’s option.
As a technology partner with Engage, additional benefits include:
- Go-to-market collaboration: Assists technology companies in selling and deploying their solutions in new markets and acquiring new clients.
- Promotion: Partners are listed on Mastercard’s platform to increase their visibility and reputation with all Mastercard (NYSE:MA) customers.
- Training And Insights: Mastercard Academy provides partners with access to a variety of product and solution training courses. They can also engage in regional forums where Mastercard (NYSE:MA) and its partners discuss market objectives and value and product propositions.
- Technical support – Partners receive access to a network of global and regional technical engineers who can assist them in resolving technical issues.
Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Engage has evolved over the past year to assist clients in adopting Digital First experiences that satisfy consumer demand for more digital interactions and offer additional payment options. The program includes partners who provide diverse components and integration capabilities across all business verticals, supporting banks, merchants, lenders, and fintech clients. Engage’s expansion demonstrates Mastercard’s continued commitment to supporting fintech that enables consumers to securely access and manage their data. Start Path Open Banking was launched last month, and Engage’s expansion demonstrates Mastercard’s commitment to supporting fintech that enables consumers to securely access and manage their data.
Finicity, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mastercard(NYSE:MA), provides certain open banking platform services. Open banking services through Engage is a worldwide effort; in the next months, additional market partners will be announced.
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