the first companies in the Middle East and Africa region began to experience the seamless ease of Mastercard’s Track Instant Pay Solutionin partnership with the leading pan-African FinTech activation partner, Ukheshe Technologies.
Track Instant Pay is a next-generation virtual card solution that uses machine learning and straight-through processing to enable instant payment of supplier invoices – the first of its kind.
“It securely and intelligently allows immediate payments to a vendor once the vendor submits an invoice,” says Paul SelibasPresident: Channel Solutions at Ukheshe.
“First, it analyzes incoming invoices using sophisticated machine learning to identify those likely to be rejected, then authorizes payment of the remainder the same day. These payments are sent digitally, directly and securely to the supplier’s bank account via a virtual Mastercard. It eliminates all the usual manual processes, from manually checking and approving invoices to manual payments or time-consuming check processing. »
Improve bottom line
Mastercard’s white paper on this new solution revealed that extended payment terms and late payments create a long-standing sticking point between buyers and suppliers. Even virtual cards, in theory a great solution, did not alleviate these problems.
According to the newspaper, suppliers receive an email indicating that they have virtual credit card payment. The provider must click on an issuing bank hyperlink, log in and manage the credentials of that bank account to see the full number. They then see a list of invoices that are paid in a different portal. Then the supplier must enter this transaction into their own system. Overall, this is a very manual and expensive process, and Mercator estimates that around 90% of virtual card transactions are processed this way.
Additionally, a 2020 study of UK SME suppliers showed that the average SME supplier was chasing five outstanding invoices at any one time, consuming 1.5 hours per day. According to Selibas: “In the emerging markets of Africa and the Middle East, there is a specific and growing need for a system that can help businesses pay several large municipal bills at once, and this solution addresses that on all the foreheads. »
“This benefits all parties involved; it frees up cash flow for suppliers who typically suffer from long payment terms or late payments; saves valuable time, costs and working capital for buyers; and it eliminates friction to improve business relationships. Buyers can manage their working capital more efficiently by using the line of credit linked to their commercial card account; while unique, dynamically generated virtual account numbers with layers of control provide added security for supplier payments.
The path to follow
Ukheshe and its turnkey platform Eclipse are already Mastercard’s preferred implementation partner in South Africa, having successfully launched Africa’s first Mastercard virtual card for use on WhatsApp last year. The card giant has once again named Ukheshe as a partner in this solution.
Anton Coertzen, CCO at Ukheshe, says this kind of technology could change the business landscape forever.
“Mastercard’s solution, combined with Ukheshe’s Eclipse platform, can change the way businesses handle payments, saving everyone involved time, money and energy. With Eclipse, we can add new services to our customers’ suite so that they grow with them as their needs, and those of their own customers or suppliers, change over time. This aligns perfectly with Ukheshe’s vision of enabling fintech, modernizing business-to-business transactions and financial inclusion. »