A partnership between Basware’s Commerce Network and MasterCard’s global payment network is promising to deliver businesses payments on their electronic invoices more quickly while giving buyers a longer time to square up, the firms announced Sept. 23.
The new e-commerce solution works like so: the supplier sends an electronic invoice via Basware’s Commerce Network. It is then delivered to the buyer’s processing system and approved for payment. MasterCard then pays the supplier and debits the buyer’s account for the purchase. The buyer can pay back MasterCard on their own terms.
Basware’s network processes more than 50 million invoices annually, totally more than $420 billion USD in 100 countries. MasterCard’s network covers 150 currencies in more than 210 countries and includes about 20,000 financial institutions.
In a blog post on Basware’s site, MasterCard’s president of global strategic alliances, Hany Fam, says the deal will help access a $400 trillion market in business-to-business payments.
The listed benefits for buyers include extended payment time, eliminating cheque payments, reduced supply risk and better cash flow, and easier cross-border payments. Of course, buyers will also be on the hook for extra interest fees owed to MasterCard.
“Our network, and the behavioural insights it gives us, allows the real-time gamification of invoicing and communication between businesses. Mobile payments get all the headlines right now, but this partnership allows us to work on the next evolution in business payments,” Fam writes.
This infographic provided by Basware explains the business problem its solution is addressing and breaks down its solution:
