Mastercard launches Cross-Border Services Express

As consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a need for improved cross-border payment capabilities, they are looking for ways to send money or pay vendors across the globe in a quick and secure manner. The Cross-Border Services Express tool aims to deliver that completely in a digital-first experience and complements Mastercard’s Cross-Border Services offering.

Digital payments and Mastercard’s Cross-Border Services Express capabilities

Based on the information provided in the press release, the service works by leveraging a customisable and easy-to-implement digital overlay, while also providing additional tools to meet compliance and regulatory requirements.

Alan Marquard, Executive Vice President of Transfer Solutions at Mastercard advised that the company has the goal of providing choice, access, and transparency for payment across borders. Per their statement, through a simple, turn-key integration, Cross-Border Services Express aims to ‘level the playing field’ and provide small and mid-tier banks, together with credit unions and community banks, with the same international payment features no matter their size and scale.

When leveraging Mastercard’s Cross-Border Services, participating financial institutions are enabled to offer their customers international payments in over 60 currencies to more than 100 markets covering 90% of the world’s population. The service enables users’ flexibility in how they pay by delivering funds to bank accounts, mobile wallets, cards, and cash payout locations with complete transparency and predictability regarding the transaction status and delivery time.

Furthermore, Cross-Border Services Express helps financial institutions to get to market in an expedited manner, decrease transaction risk, and deliver a modernised payment experience that is sought after by consumers and SMEs alike when carrying out international payments. Additionally, the company is collaborating with fintechs Fable FinTech and Payall Payment Systems to provide the solution via a simplified user interface that helps meet the customers’ increased expectations for digital experiences.

The announcement details that digital payments are increasing, with three-quarters of consumers that send and receive cross-border payments doing so by making use of mobile apps, as per a Mastercard 2022 Borderless Payments Report. Despite this, there is a multitude of challenges associated with transparency and costs, as 39% of SME respondents advised that cross-border payments decelerate their supply chain and one quarter reported suppliers’ refusal in collaborating with them due to uncertainty over payment times.

Adding on the launch, Jane Prokop, Executive Vice President, Small and Medium Enterprises at Mastercard advised that for SMEs it is important to keep money flowing. As per their statement, the Cross-Border Services Express offering is set to help FIs address SMEs’ need for an efficient and digital cross-border payments solution that they can leverage to pay employees, suppliers, and partners alike in a fast and fully predictable manner.