Mastercard and Fundbot Team to Speed B2B Payment Flows

Mastercard has joined forces with Fundbot, a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based supply chain financing FinTech.

The collaboration, announced in a news release Thursday (Nov. 21), is designed to streamline business-to-business (B2B) payment flows via a new platform linking buyers and suppliers.

“Rolled out initially in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the innovative tech-driven solution will boost the user experience by including added-value capabilities, such as Fundbot’s dynamic discount product that incentivizes quicker B2B payments, fast-tracking the conversion of receivables to cash for suppliers and reducing days sales outstanding (DSO),” the release said.

According to the release, the solution’s initial rollout will center around early claim settlements in the healthcare sector, “tackling these significant payment delays.”

Fundbot’s discount product, the companies note, is integrated with leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, making it easier for businesses of all sizes to adopt and use.

“It features an AI-powered tool that uses advanced algorithms to recommend the optimal discount rate for each transaction based on country, vertical and industry trends to help buyers achieve high acceptance rates,” the release said.

“In addition, it allows buyers to maximize savings by utilizing early payment discounts before invoice due date.”

Investing in the supply chain, the companies said, bolsters the relationship between buyers and suppliers by accelerating payments and helping address cash flow issues, a critical pain point for smaller businesses in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region.

As PYMNTS wrote last month, embracing digital financing options can help companies improve their liquidity, while also creating more durable supply chains that are better equipped to handle economic fluctuations and disruptions.

“Decades of globalization have led to supply chains becoming increasingly complex,” Duncan Lodge, global head of supply chain finance and EMEA head of trade at Bank of America, said in a recent PYMNTS interview. “The ability to join the dots across different platforms will be key to driving further digitalization and unlocking the full potential of global trade.

“If investors have better data, they can better understand credit and performance risk dynamics, making trade finance and receivables more investable as an asset class,” Lodge added. “This, in turn, helps plug the trade finance gap — a gap that is only increasing as more companies seek to engage in global trade.”