Mastercard launches program for startups seeking to extend digital payments

New York 3 Mai 2024:

Six startups join the new Start Path Acceptance program to expand the acceptance ecosystem around the world – from smart routing to cloud-led solutions

Mastercard today announced the expansion of its award-winning startup engagement program, Start Path, welcoming six late-stage startups from around the world that are playing a role in growing the payments acceptance ecosystem.

The ability to accept electronic payments has been critical to shaping the future of commerce and spurring the secular shift to digital – unlocking new use cases and enhancing expectations for speed, simplicity and safety. Mastercard is at the center of this digitization, bringing forth new ways to pay while fortifying trust across all payment forms and flows.

With a global acceptance footprint that has doubled in just the last five years and includes more than 3.3 billion cards, Mastercard takes a partnership-led approach, connecting with fintech experts to solve critical problems facing the wider digital economy.

The inaugural Start Path Acceptance cohort is comprised of startups that are driving innovative solutions across a variety of use cases, including creating low-cost solutions for small businesses, enabling non-traditional channel acceptance, and providing holistic business management experiences in payments and beyond.

The startups joining the program will bring invaluable expertise to the table to inspire and inform Mastercard’s payments strategy and help solve for customer pain points. Throughout the four-month program, the startups will receive hands-on mentoring and collaboration opportunities as well as access to Mastercard’s global network of banks, merchants and digital players.