Mastercard Enrolls With Pay.UK To Speed Up B2B Payments

Mastercard has officially enrolled in the Pay.UK‘s Request to Pay service, which aims to allow customers to view and pay bills in a more streamlined, efficient manner, according to a press release.

Request to Pay, according to the company, will put more power in the hands of customers to make payments for mortgage, utility and telecom bills, or council tax payments through multiple payment options, including in full, in part and requests for more time to make a payment.

The new partnership, announced last year, is designed to align with current trends to offer more flexible digital payments. Request to Pay Managing Director Andy Coleyshaw said the service “offers greater choice to customers, digitizing all payment types, making life easier for everyone to manage and settle daily bills,” according to the release.

According to Mastercard’s 2019 State of Pay report, 74 percent of respondents use direct payments straight from their bank accounts to pay for everything from utilities to mobile contracts, an increase of 13 points from 2017. Half of the respondents want “greater control” over their bill payments.

According to the release, the Request to Pay service will attempt to reduce the number of late payments and could save billers as much as a billion pounds per year.

Paul Horlock, Pay.UK chief executive, called the Mastercard team-up a “significant leap” for the company.

“By putting user control at the heart of the payment process, Request to Pay has the potential to revolutionize how we discuss money and pay bills,” he said, according to the release. “It sits alongside Direct Debit and other payment options as part of a suite of tools to give users the control they need over how and when they pay, all while reducing  reconciliation costs for billers.”