Mastercard is enhancing its B2B global trade enablement platform with technology from OpenText, beginning with capabilities for auto industry professionals as part of a broader plan to create deeper relationships with corporate buyers.
The company on Thursday announced its intentions to use OpenText’s Supplier Portal, Identify Portal and Internet of Things (IoT) at the vendor’s Enterprise World customer event. The tools will be integrated with Mastercard Track, which the payments firm launched last September, and will provide things like spot financing to customers of OpenText’s Business Network.
Claire Thompson, Mastercard’s executive vice-president of Enterprise Partnerships, said B2B has become a huge priority for the company as it looks beyond credit cards in the kind of services it can provide.
“What we realized in speaking top companies and large organizations is that payments is just one piece. There is a lot fo friction in the whole B2B space beyond making the payment,” Thompson told B2B News Network. “There is often a patchwork of processes and a lack of interoperability. You’ll see 120 trillion flows, and half of them are (done via) paper.”
As a result, Thompson said, there is often a lack of trust within the auto industry ecosystem, particularly given the number of small and medium-sized businesses who operate there.
“There are questions of, ‘Who am I doing business with?’ ‘How do I know it’s secure?’ Even in terms of “What am I getting paid for, and when?’” she said, adding that the combination of Mastercard Track and things like OpenText Supplier portal will streamline a lot of those processes while providing peace of mind to business buyers.
This is one of the strengths Mastercard is hoping to bring to the B2B realm. “We’re pretty good at creating security in consumer space,” she added.
Joel Kreme, vice-president of sales for Covisint at OpenText, said the software provider has learned a lot from operating the OpenText Business Network that it can apply to providing the right digital experience through Mastercard Track.
“They’re really looking for a one-stop clearing house, not multiple applications,” he siad. “You want to be looking at your invoices and deciding what financial settlements you may want to be doing. It’s about providing a holistic view of that, along with (helping provide) risk management and having an intelligent assessment of what’s going on.”
Beyond procurement, Thompson said she expects those using Mastercard Track and OpenText’s Supplier Portal to include those in finance functions like accounts payable/receivable, treasurers and anyone else involved making integrated payments or intelligent decisions about financing.
As Mastercard gains traction, meanwhile, she said the company will examine other potential sectors where it could provide similar value to global supply chains.
“Freight, for example — for us that’s an obvious one,” she said.
Oil and gas as well as manufacturing are other potential markets, Kreme added. At the moment, however, the two firms will be focused on ensuring their offering resonates with the auto sector.
“The early metrics will be things like adoption — seeing people use things like risk management tools,” he said. “We’ll also be looking at whether they’re using all of (the capabilities in Mastercard Track) or just some of them, and if so, what they’re migrating towards.”
Besides OpenText, Thompson said Mastercard was working with a number of other B2B networks and platforms to help extend its reach, as well as banks and related entities.
