Mastercard Integrates Mastercard Track™ in Singapore’s Networked Trade Platform to Simplify International Trade

Facilitating secure and efficient electronic payments between buyers and suppliers

Mastercard Track™, a unique global trade platform developed in collaboration with Microsoft, has been integrated with the Networked Trade Platform (NTP) in Singapore, to cater to the needs of businesses of all sizes. The NTP, an initiative led by the Singapore Customs department and the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), was officially launched on 26 September 2018.

The NTP is a one-stop digital trade platform for Business-to-Government (B2G) and Business-to-Business (B2B) services which brings together key logistics functions, such as movement of goods as well as regulatory and financial elements for players across the trade value chain. As an integral component of NTP, Mastercard Track facilitates secure and efficient electronic transactions and payment reconciliation between buyers and suppliers all around the world. This will enable end-to-end digital trade, helping companies raise productivity, boost competitiveness, and gain access to new opportunities.

With Singapore as Asia’s front door to commerce and one of the busiest global trade hubs, the integration of Mastercard Track with the NTP will simplify and enhance how companies do business with each other, promoting increased exports – especially by small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). In Singapore, where SMEs make up 99% of all enterprises, Mastercard Track will also help level the playing field for these businesses as they seek to supply large corporate buyers globally.

“The integration of Mastercard Track with the NetworkedTrade Platform reinforces Mastercard’s commitment to make the business of doing business easier, leveraging Mastercard’s expertise and global network connectivity to streamline payments and facilitate greater trust between businesses worldwide” said Claire Thompson, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Partnerships, Mastercard. “In understanding the challenges to enhance Singapore’s competitiveness, there is an opportunity to address industry pain points to make commerce safer, simpler, and more seamless for all. Mastercard Track presents the potential to help strengthen Singapore’s standing as the leading and most innovative trading hub for the region.”

Mastercard Track draws on and complements the whole range of Mastercard innovation and B2B assets, from account-to-account and card payment solutions to fraud management, data analytics and payment gateway services.

In today’s international trade environment, despite parts of the B2B process being digitized, large and costly gaps still remain – coming to an estimated $500 billion in annual administrative costs and rising[1]. These costs are added to the inefficiency of the nearly half of all global business transactions – $58 trillion[2] – that are still done in paper.

Addressing identity, compliance and payment management needs
Beginning in early 2019, businesses will also be able to maintain, retrieve and exchange key information relating to themselves and their trading partners through the Track Trade Directory, a secure, permissioned repository of over 150 million company registrations worldwide. This central directory will integrate feeds from more than 4,500 compliance lists into one place, making the screening and onboarding of suppliers more efficient.

As the platform expands, Mastercard Track will help connect all types of payments – account-based, card-based or bank transfer –, while also connecting purchase order and invoice information. This will provide better cash-flow visibility and simplify back-office reconciliation, one of the largest burdens facing businesses today.

Through its partners, Mastercard Track will enable B2B networks, banks, insurance companies and technology providers to extend value-added services to business customers, such as enhanced data analytics and trade finance.

For more information about Mastercard Track, please view our digital press kit or visit mastercard.com/track.

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About Mastercard
Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a technology company in the global payments industry.  Our global payments processing network connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories.  Mastercard products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone.  Follow us on Twitter @MastercardAP, join the discussion on the Beyond the Transaction Blog and subscribe for the latest news on the Engagement Bureau.

Mastercard Communications Contact
Venture Liang, Mastercard, Venture.Liang@mastercard.com, +65 6390 5973
Celina Lim, Weber Shandwick, celim@webershandwick.com, +65 68258075, +65 90997618

 

[1] Goldman Sachs, “The Future of Finance, Redefining the Way We Pay in the Next Decade,” 2015
[2] Sources 2016 – Oxford Economics, Euromonitor International, Kaiser Associates, McKinsey Payment Data, Mastercard Internal Analysis