Fintech
FinTech LIVE New York: Mastercard and the Power of Partnership
TO FinTech LIVE New York 2024We spoke with Mastercard’s Executive Vice President, Global Head of Small and Medium Business, Jane Prokopon how companies can leverage fintech partnerships to fuel innovation.
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) play a vital role in the global economy, actually making up over 90% of the world’s businesses. As Jane explains, they contribute more than half of employment and GDP across all markets, and account for around $50 trillion in spending each year.
However, they still face a number of obstacles to their success, which Jane discusses in this interview with FinTech Magazine.
“The biggest challenge is access to credit and capital,” he notes. “The World Bank has estimated that every year there is a gap of nearly $6 trillion between what small businesses seek in financing and what they actually get.
“This is something we need to work on in collaboration between fintechs and banks.”
Mastercard: Strengthening Fintech Partnerships
While fintechs face numerous challenges, Mastercard Takes a Two-Pronged Approach to support early-stage fintechs through its Start Path program. This engages businesses and gives them access to the full suite of Mastercard capabilities, as well as introducing them to financial services providers they can partner with.
“I would say we act as a matchmaker between fintechs and our financial institution partners,” Jane explains. “In many cases, we find financial institutions looking to add certain capabilities to their suite of services that they offer to SMBs.
“We often introduce these parties to each other, which we see as a huge net benefit to the financial ecosystem. For fintechs, working with financial institutions and opening up access to capital is one of the most promising areas we see moving forward.”
Mastercard is eager to ensure that people have both the digital tools they need and access to capital. The belief is that it could substantially changing the way SMEs participate and thrive in a competitive business environment.
“Mastercard is trying to support all of our partners in extending these kinds of services to small businesses,” Jane says. “For SMBs, get familiar with the tools, adopt the tools, and don’t be afraid to use them. And then work with your financial institutions to strengthen that relationship and make your needs known.”
Watch the video above to hear the full interview with Jane Prokop.
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