Mastercard Debuts Cross-Border Services Express Tool

Mastercard has debuted a tool to help financial institutions (FIs) simplify cross-border payments.

Cross-Border Services Express lets FIs set up international payments for their customers, both consumers and small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), which have a need for better cross-border payment capabilities, according to a Tuesday (April 11) press release.

“Increasingly, consumers and businesses are looking for ways to send money or pay vendors across the globe quickly and securely,” Mastercard said in the release. “Cross-Border Services Express delivers that completely in a digital-first experience.”

The service lets FIs offer customers international payments in more than 60 currencies to over 100 markets that cover 90% of the global population, according to the release.

“With a simple, turn-key integration, Cross-Border Services Express levels the playing field and provides small and mid-tier banks, including credit unions and community banks, with the same international payments features regardless of their size and scale,” said Alan Marquard, executive vice president for transfer solutions at Mastercard.

The new service compliments Mastercard’s Cross-Border Services offering, using a “customizable and easy-to-implement digital overlay,” while also offering “additional tools to meet compliance and regulatory requirements,” per the release.

“The service offers users flexibility in how they pay by delivering funds to bank accounts, mobile wallets, cards and cash payout locations with full transparency and predictability over transaction status and delivery time,” the release said.

PYMNTS research has shown that attempts to update and speed up the B2B cross-border payment experience have fallen behind similar work to improve the online payment experience for consumers, leading in a cross-border payments process that is often overly complex and filled with friction.

SMBs are especially hard hit, with 27% saying the complexity of making cross-border payments is one of their chief obstacles, according to the “B2B Cross-Border Payments Tracker®,” a PYMNTS and American Express collaboration.

Meanwhile, research by PYMNTS and Paynoneer in the report “International B2B Payments: A Guide for Entrepreneurs and Digital Businesses” showed that just 23% of SMBs said they were happy with their cross-border payment solutions.

More than 10% of U.S. SMBs said they are concerned about their survival prospects over the coming years, putting more burden on cash flow management to help them stay afloat.

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