Mastercard Partners with Maestrano

In efforts to recognize the integral role SMEs play in developing Asia Pacific’s economies, Mastercard together with Maestrano recently announced a strategic partnership to encourage SME development by enabling issuing banks across the region to access cloud based technologies.

This union will hope to help SMEs cut back on operational inefficiencies and encourage greater visibility and control of finances.

In tandem with the agreement, Mastercard will be able to refer Maestrano as a complementary platform to its business card proposition to banks across Asia Pacific. This serves to make it the first SME cloud marketplace partnership for Mastercard in Asia Pacific and substantial progress in improving its digital offering for SMEs.

Based on the findings from the Asian Development Bank, SMEs make up 98 percent of all enterprises within the region, and they employ approximately 66 percent of the respective national workforces collectively.

In a few markets, SMEs drive up to 38 percent of GDP.

Stephane Ibos, CEO of Maestrano said, “We are delighted to be working with Mastercard, to deliver an innovative opportunity for banks in the Asia Pacific region. Together we will support the growth and development of SME customers, enabling new insights and services, delivered by our unique technology.”

Philip Glickman, Regional Head, Commercial Payment Solutions, Asia Pacific, Mastercard, said, “Financing for business growth and capability development is a key priority in ensuring sustainable growth for SMEs[3], and it is critical that SMEs are empowered with products and solutions that enable them to thrive in highly competitive, global marketplaces. Our partnership with Maestrano is part of our commitment to supporting Asia Pacific’s SMEs by providing digital, end-to-end solutions that gives them greater insight and control of their business and financial health.”