Mastercard empowers open banking startups to scale and expand consumer choice

Five open banking startups from around the world join new Start Path Open Banking program to access resources, expertise and tools to grow

Mastercard has launched the Start Path Open Banking global program to engage open banking startups on their path to scale, uncover unique opportunities to co-innovate and power experiences that enable consumer choice. The companies handpicked for this inaugural class – Dapi, Finantier, mmob, Mono and Paywallet – demonstrate strong synergies with Mastercard's tech-driven approach and are committed to putting consumers and small businesses at the center of where and how their financial data is used to further access services they want and need.

During the three-month program, startups will have an opportunity to leverage Mastercard’s open banking expertise and market insights and learn more about the company’s open banking platforms through wholly-owned subsidiaries Finicity and Aiia. As an early advocate of open banking across the globe, Mastercard has bolstered its open banking capabilities by blending its proprietary technology and expertise with the complementary services of Finicity and Aiia. Mastercard’s market-leading technology platforms, data connectivity and infrastructure, combined with strong data privacy and security principles, provide a global infrastructure that is catalyzing innovation and creating solutions that meet customers where they are.

“Open banking is a natural progression of how Mastercard has always embraced innovation and consumer trust with equal measure, and how we’ve remained a trusted partner for our customers,” said Blake Rosenthal, executive vice president, Fintech & Segment Solutions at Mastercard. “We are thrilled to launch the Start Path Open Banking program and welcome five high-growth startups from around the world to collaborate with us and accelerate open banking innovation.”

From making financial services accessible for all, to providing the tools businesses need to build next-generation financial products, the following fast-growing open banking companies have been selected to join the Start Path Open Banking program:

• Dapi (United Arab Emirates) is an open banking payment API that provides an experience for accepting account-to-account payments and tools for enterprise payments operations.
• Finantier (Indonesia) is an open finance platform powering the technical infrastructure for financial inclusion and enabling the next generation of digital and financial services across Southeast Asia.
• mmob (U.K.) seamlessly integrates third-party products into the financial ecosystem via its proprietary tool without coding.
• Mono (Nigeria) enables businesses in Africa to access financial data and process direct bank payments.
• Paywallet (U.S.) helps lenders and other financing providers improve payment certainty by enabling repayments directly from payroll deductions and powering underwriting decisions based on accurate identity, employment and payroll data.

These five companies will join the network of more than 300 startups that have participated in the award-winning Start Path startup engagement program. They will have an opportunity to engage with Mastercard’s ecosystem of banks, merchants, partners and digital players across the globe to deliver and scale open banking solutions. Today, Start Path alumni are entering the public markets, reaching unicorn status and pursuing extended commercial engagements with Mastercard and its customers.

Start Path is a key program within the Mastercard Developers portfolio, a single point of entry for fintech companies in open banking and beyond to access the APIs, services and tools they need to iterate at each stage of their journey, transform bold ideas and achieve scale at a fast pace to bring more people into the digital economy.

Interested startups can apply for future Start Path Open Banking classes here.