Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Mastercard (MA) to Expand Commercial Card Usage in India

Read MoreHide Full Article

Mastercard Inc. (MA - Free Report) has entered into an agreement with EnKash, a digital platform and payment solution provider, to expand the usage of commercial cards in India. The agreement with allow automation of B2B digital payment.

The platform will allow small & medium enterprises to pay using the Mastercard payment network.

This alliance has been made to address the growing demand among businesses of all sizes in India for digitizing supplier payments. Digitization of payments is the need of the hour, given its numerous benefits. It drives savings with quick cash payments, enhances controls and simplifies reconciliation, among other benefits.

Despite the need for digitization, the demand has not been met, given limited penetration of card acceptance solutions across small B2B suppliers. Owing to this, many businesses have missed out on new innovative B2B payment solutions, which could have led to increased operational efficiencies.

Using EnKash digital platform and Mastercard payment network, the corporate can leverage their unutilized credit lines to pay multiple types of core & non-core financial transactions including utility, rental, GST, Fuel, as well as many other B2B suppliers more efficiently.

The supply side businesses benefit from timely payment of invoices, which in turn can help in improving their cash flows.

Mastercard has been making every effort to help small businesses in India, which have been grappling with the pandemic-induced financial uncertainties. The company has made several investments to roll out cost-effective solutions for assisting small businesses to adopt digital means. It has also extended a helping hand to women entrepreneurs. As a case in point, it recently introduced Project Kirana. As part of the project, Mastercard collaborated with the United States Agency for International Development under the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.

Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that India is a big market for Mastercard, given that a large chunk of its population is eager to utilize debit or credit cards for conducting online shopping. Elevated smartphone usage has also propelled e-commerce market growth in India. The e-commerce market in India is projected to rise to $200 billion by 2026 from $38.5 billion in 2017, per India Brand Equity Foundation.

These initiatives position Mastercard well for long-term growth in the Indian sub-continent, where Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) is also actively operative.

Notably, shares of Mastercard have gained 13.4% year to date compared with the industry’s 6.7% growth.

Among its peers, American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) has declined 2.3%, while Discover Financial Services (DFS - Free Report) has gained 6.4% in the same time period.

Notably, Mastercard currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>

Published in