Mastercard Cross-Border Services Expands

Mastercard has offered Cross-Border Services, a money transfer product that financial institutions use to offer international payment services to consumers and businesses, since 2016. Subsequent acquisitions of Transfast (2019) and HomeSend (2021) boosted capabilities and reach to include more than 60 currencies in over 100 markets.

Through a combination of its network and the networks of partners, it can move funds to 90% of the world’s population. Payments from Cross-Border Services can be delivered to bank accounts, card accounts, mobile wallets and locations where payouts can be picked up over the counter in local currency. In over 40 countries, Mastercard can make payments to bank accounts in real time.

Mastercard’s latest international money transfer product, which it calls Cross-Border Services Express, is designed for smaller financial institutions. They gain the ability to offer their customers access to Mastercard money transfer rails through white-label apps and their own banking platforms. Funds can be delivered to bank accounts, cards, mobile wallets and cash locations.

India-based Fable Fintech and US-based Payall Payment Systems will offer the consumer-facing side of Cross-Border Services Express, including customized front-end interfaces and additional value-added services such as onboarding, verification, KYC, AML regulatory compliance and call center operations.

For new Mastercard Cross-Border Services customers, one of the two fintechs will take the lead for development and implementation of the Express service. Existing Cross-Border Services’ customers can add services available from the fintechs through their existing Mastercard platform. Cross-Border Services Express is live and available to new customers as well.

INTERVIEWED FOR THIS ARTICLE

Alan Marquard is Executive Vice President, Transfer Solutions at Mastercard in London, alan.marquard@mastercard.com, www.mastercard.com.