Mastercard, Raistone release new whitepaper

As part of the whitepaper, financial professionals from both Raistone and Mastercard discussed how many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) choose to utilise ARF to optimise working capital in the current credit market. The research underlines that small business owners tend to increasingly leverage digital solutions that use their invoices to receive capital and achieve their expansion objectives. In addition, even business owners who have the ability to receive bank loans are inclined to access flexible working capital finance solutions, which can allow them to grow their operations without loading their balance sheets with debt.

Moreover, owners expect simplified, convenient, and secure digital financial products in their business processes and Raistone works towards meeting these needs by offering them ARF solutions that provide them with working capital across a wide range of industry sectors. ARF enables businesses to obtain advance payments from Raistone of up to 100% of the value of the outstanding invoices meant to acquire goods and services. The company offers the capital required by its users without demanding customers to pay their bills, which can prolong the process, depending on payment terms. Afterwards, Raistone collects funds in a dedicated account when the customer pays.

The whitepaper also underscores that digital financial tools are set to increase diversity and inclusion, whilst ARF can be leveraged to support the growth of SMEs. To assist the expansion of small businesses, Raistone introduced a program with no enrolment fees for minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs), with the initiative being designed to promote diversity and inclusion by delivering financial tools to firms that need them.

Mastercard and Raistone’s collaboration initially began in April 2022, when the two companies partnered to accelerate working capital payments for SMEs. The alliance utilised virtual card payments to advance the Embedded Finance experience and accelerate working capital disbursements for businesses. At that time, the two firms planned to simplify B2B finance payments, with Raistone tapping into secure payment capabilities to optimise finance approval processes that could exclude SMEs from accessing funds required to sustain and scale their growth.