Mastercard and Unzer Boost Open Banking in Europe

Hey Payments Fanatic!

The European payments landscape is evolving as Unzer selects Mastercard as its strategic open banking partner across Germany, Austria, and Denmark.

This collaboration aims to enhance account-based payments through Unzer's payment gateways, enabling direct bank-to-merchant transactions with built-in biometric verification.

The partnership leverages Mastercard's open banking infrastructure to streamline digital payments, with a focus on e-commerce transactions. Pascal Beij, Chief Commercial Officer at Unzer, emphasizes their commitment: "By tapping into Mastercard's trusted open banking infrastructure, we can drive innovation and empower merchants with faster, more convenient payment experiences that meet the needs of today's digital economy."

Valerie Nowak, EVP, APEMEA Open Banking at Mastercard, highlights the potential impact: "We're thrilled to drive the evolution of an account-based payment solution that will streamline online transactions, enhance security, and broaden payment options through our collaboration with Unzer."

If you’re interested in reading a bit about what’s been happening in Payments, keep scrolling!

Cheers,

Marcel

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GOLDEN NUGGET

𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 are becoming more popular. Mastercard's 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 (STP) solution increases their acceptance by Merchants 👇

The Global Virtual Cards market was valued at $11.20B in 2021 alone with Europe and Asia being the largest and fastest growing markets.

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 (STP):

A value-added service designed to increase virtual card account acceptance by Suppliers. With Mastercard's STP, suppliers no longer need to manually enter each card account number into their POS to accept payment. The acquirer, automatically generates an authorization request on behalf of the supplier and delivers the funds to the supplier's bank account.

𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐓𝐏:

1️⃣ An Issuer, Buyer or Accounts Payable initiates transaction using virtual card account number generated by the virtual card platform - Mastercard's is called In Control Commercial Payments (ICCP).

2️⃣ Mastercard's STP receives the transaction request and passes the virtual account number to Mastercard Payments Gateway Services (MPGS) for automatic processing on behalf of the Supplier.

3️⃣ MPGS Validates VAR data and routes the transaction to the appropriate Acquirer like Checkout.com, Stripe, Chase, Worldline etc...

4️⃣ Acquirer receives transaction request and routes for Authorization, Clearing & Settlement

5️⃣ Mastercard Network sends message to Issuers with primary funding account for normal processing

6️⃣ Acquirer funds Merchant Direct Debit Account (DDA) for approved STP transactions

7️⃣ The reconciliation data is sent to Supplier (only valid for Issuers enrolled in the Mastercard Virtual Card Receivables Service in addition to STP)

8️⃣ Virtual Card Transaction completed!

► This Straight Through Processing process ultimately increase acceptance of Virtual Cards and provides benefits to both Buyers and Sellers:

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬:

► Increased processing efficiencies: Reduced manual entry of VCN data and exceptions handling

► Improved cash flow: Suppliers can accept more commercial card payments instantaneously

► Reduced PCI compliance costs: Mastercard handles buyer card numbers, not suppliers
► More security: No need to supply sensitive bank account information to buyers

► Automated reconciliation: Receive remittance data in flexible formats and free up accounts receivable staff to focus on more strategic opportunities

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬:

► Greater process efficiencies: Improve the acceptance experience of Suppliers

► More rebates: Increased acceptance leads to increased card spend

This solution is supported globally by not only Mastercard but also Visa, Discover Financial Services, American Express, Diners Club International and JCB／株式会社ジェーシービー

Source: Mastercard

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