Mastercard launches virtual card solution for instant B2B payments

Integrated with Mastercard Track Business Payment Service, Mastercard’s open-loop B2B network, the new virtual card solution delivers efficiency and automation for buyers and suppliers to help streamline and speed business payments.

Lengthy payment terms and late invoice payments impact cash flow for suppliers, while manual invoice approval and check processing is costly and time consuming for buyers, mentions the payment service provider. Research shows a growing demand from businesses to automate supplier payments with virtual cards, but existing solutions aren’t meeting these needs, with 90% of virtual card transactions still being processed manually, the company states.

Mastercard Track Instant Pay is a virtual card solution that can authorise an immediate payment to a supplier once they submit an invoice. The solution uses machine learning to analyse invoices and identify those likely to be rejected, enabling the rest to be authorised for payment on the same day they’re received. Using straight-through processing, digital payments are sent directly and securely to a supplier’s bank account via a Mastercard virtual card, with no manual intervention required.