How is Mastercard building an innovative startup ecosystem?
Mark Bromley, Mastercard's Director, Sourcing and Supplier Management, told us about the seamless onboarding of startups into the Mastercard ecosystem
There are more than 2.5 billion cards embossed with Mastercard's logo worldwide. It is, simply, one of the most recognisable brands in the financial services sector. Indeed, form close to 50 years, the payments innovators has used technology to make global payments simpler, safer and smarter.
In a recent conversation with FinTech magazine, Bromley detailed the pivotal role that supply chain takes in driving this success. He also explained the way in which the company continues to innovate its processes to be more accessible to, and nurture startups.
Bromley has worked with the brand for a little over four years. In his current role his responsibility lies largely in building sourcing strategies that feed into the wider corporate strategy. Startups play a significant role in such strategies.
Building partnerships
As testament to the work he has undertaken, it's worth noting that, recently Bromley and his team were awarded the Bias For Speed award from Mastercard’s Head of Legal. This was for the implementation of a process that allows the seamless onboarding of startups into the Mastercard ecosystem, The Mastercard Start Path.
The new on-boarding process platform, which took around six months for Bromley's team to create, added efficiency to a once timely process and allowed for a faster cataloging and shortlisting of fintech and startup applicants.
Once prospective fintechs and startups apply they are manually reviewed, with around six taken into The Mastercard Start Path.
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This gives them access to Mastercard's global network, as well as six months of mentoring. “So much of our work with fintechs, startups and SMEs is about revenue generation, and with that, speed to market products," says Bromley. "As a result the supply chain teams work closely with product teams to ensure that each startup entering our ecosystem is receiving the best support and connected with the best-matched companies in the network.”
Start Path was named The Best Innovation Program in 2020 by Tearsheet. It is a part of Mastercard Labs (R&D innovation team), of which there are eight globally.
The labs specialise in VR, AI, AR and blockchain, with an exploration into how these technologies can drive company value while also providing new innovations to the 20,000 banks and 60 million merchants it supports.
For more information on all topics for FinTech, please take a look at the latest edition of FinTech magazine.
