Mastercard has announced a five-year partnership agreement with PayMongo, a Manila-based fintech company founded in 2019, that allows businesses to quickly set up payment systems and accept multiple modes of payment such as cards, e-wallets and other alternative payment options.
The strategic partnership with Mastercard will strengthen PayMongo’s business offerings by enabling the latter to be a Mastercard issuer to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It also reinforces Mastercard’s commitment as a fintech accelerator.
“Mastercard believes in the potential of collaborating with fintechs to enable new payment flows for businesses and consumers. PayMongo has demonstrated its commitment and capability to help build the financial infrastructure that would allow enterprises of all sizes in the Philippines to succeed in the rapidly digitizing economy. Their thrust perfectly aligns with Mastercard’s mission to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone. Mastercard is confident that the strategic partnership will accelerate the inclusion of SMEs into the digital ecosystem,” said Rowell Del Fierro, country manager, Philippines, Mastercard.
PayMongo focuses on growing the internet economy of emerging markets like the Philippines, where SMEs make up more than 99 percent of total businesses in the country. When the pandemic broke out, PayMongo’s robust payments infrastructure became especially helpful to Filipino entrepreneurs.
The lockdowns prompted entrepreneurs to make the urgent shift to go online and have been able to do so through PayMongo’s uncomplicated digital payment platform and fast and seamless onboarding process. The simplified dashboard and accounts management and automated payouts to any bank also allowed them to do daily business with ease.
“This collaboration allows PayMongo to yet again offer a more seamless product experience to our merchants by tapping directly into Mastercard’s payments infrastructure, making them more agile, enabling them to do commerce faster and making their businesses grow,” said Francis Plaza, PayMongo co-founder and CEO.
Orchestrating this partnership is Mastercard Fintech Express, a tailored program which provides fintechs such as PayMongo with increased speed-to-market, access to a suite of digital-first products, and a cross functional team of experts to provide strategic counsel and advisory across product, partnerships, licensing and legal to be able to successfully build their offerings.
The Mastercard-Paymongo partnership allows the latter to leverage its ability to build scalable online products and Mastercard’s strong global network to encourage more digital transactions among businesses and individuals in the country.