Mastercard has selected nine fintechs to join its four-month ‘Start Path Open Banking and Embedded Finance’ program.
Through the program, which supports start-ups as they scale, the fintechs will receive curated programming and a dedicated sponsor, who offers guidance and expertise.
Participating companies gain access to Mastercard’s Open Banking technology, data connectivity and analytics offerings, as well as to its ecosystem of banks, merchants, partners and digital players globally.
Among the fintechs selected is Singapore-based audax, which accelerates banks’ growth with plug-and-play digital banking solutions to enable new business models, such as Banking-as-a-Service.
Also joining the Mastercard Start Path program is Crediwire, which is based in Denmark.
Nicholas Meilstrup, chief executive officer of Crediwire, said: “Our vision revolves around Open Banking—an innovative avenue that grants small businesses the same opportunities as other large industry players.
“By harnessing the power of live data analytics tailored to their unique needs and market dynamics, we’re streamlining access to finance and enhancing financial outcomes to provide actionable insights that pave the way for growth and prosperity, one business at a time.”
Ben Dixon, chief executive officer of Fonto, an Australian fintech which helps businesses with their decision-making via a live consumer data and insights ecosystem, said: “We are excited about the future of Open Banking as it means less friction, a more accurate and secure data feed, as well as better quality and speed of data for the long term.”
Mastercard has also introduced to its Start Path program US-based Link Money, German fintech Monite and Ireland’s NoFrixion, which automates money operations and removing manual processes for businesses when they send and receive funds.
“Link Money envisions a future where Open Banking can democratize financial services, providing consumers with more control over their financial data and offering more cost-effective payment options,” said Eric Shoykhet, chief executive officer of Link Money.
Monite’s chief executive officer Ivan Maryasin added: “Ready-to-use, compliant and easily integrated solutions are crucial for transforming B2B payments and embedded financial products, and Monite’s mission is to ensure this transformation is successful.”
US-based Payitoff, which is described as “an outcome engine for consumer debt”, has also been introduced to the program, alongside New Zealand’s PocketSmith, which provides personal finance software that “goes beyond budgeting”, and US fintech Quiltt.
“Quiltt was born out of our frustrations building a personal finance app. Instead of focusing on our core product, we were spending our limited engineering resources struggling to set up reliable account connectivity. We knew there had to be a better way for the next wave of fintech entrepreneurs,” added Ruben Izmailyan, Quiltt’s chief executive officer and co-founder.
“Our mission is to dramatically lower technical barriers to help make the ecosystem more accessible to all types of builders.”
More than 430 start-ups from 57 countries have been supported through the Start Path program.
