Mastercard has announced three new partnerships with U.S.- and U.K.-based fintechs.
The Purchase company has realigned its Start Path program to support what it defined as “traditionally underrepresented fintech founders, with a new focus aimed at early-stage startups led by nonwhite and women entrepreneurs in the U.S.
The program will include partnership readiness training, coaching and curated commercial and investor introductions, with grants and investments being offered to start-ups that show the greatest potential.
“To achieve inclusive growth, which ensures that the benefits of a growing economy extend to all segments of society, people need access to the vital networks that power the modern economy,” said Michael Froman, vice chairman and president of strategic growth at Mastercard.
Separately, Mastercard has teamed with British fintech FinGo, in an initiative that will integrate the latter”™s biometric identity authentication and payments platform with the Mastercard Payment Gateway Services (MPGS). The FinGo technology will allow registered users to make Mastercard payments by scanning their unique finger vein pattern.
“FinGo”™s focus on identity-enabled transactions and the work the team is doing in biometric applications will add to the checkout choice vendors can offer their customers,” said Keith Douglas, MPGS executive vice president. “We look forward to working with the team to bring more safe, simple and smart ways to pay.”
Mastercard is also partnering with Wilmington, Delaware fintech platform upSWOT and the Los Angeles travel booking app FinalPrice to develop cashflow solutions for small and medium businesses.
Mastercard is working with upSWOT on developing software to analyze key data and behaviors of that sector to strengthen their operations, while its work with FinalPrice is aimed at enabling the cost-effective resumption of business travel in the post-pandemic environment.
Marcus O”™Toole, Mastercard vice president, said the endeavors are designed to “simplify the process for small businesses so they are not merely surviving, but thriving.”
