MetaBank known as one of the largest prepaid debit card issuer in the United States has taken steps to position itself as a payments disbursement firm. With this new capability not only will they push further innovation in use cases for prepaid debit cards, but for traditional debit cards as well. As they push further into payments of all types (credit, debit, prepaid, ACH, wire) for business to consumer (B2C) and business to business (B2B) payments, growth should be expected.
One of the first new offerings on this platform is Mastercard Send™, an industry-leading push payments service that powers a faster, better, smarter way to send money domestically and cross border. With Mastercard Send, partners can disburse funds to U.S. debit or reloadable prepaid cards for immediate payment of insurance claims, healthcare claims, government aid, tax refunds, gig economy workers and more.
Faster Payments the buzzword for ACH Push Payments is taking hold with many payment providers looking to provide their customers with the added convenience of speed. Speed can be in either direction, speed in making a payment and/or speed in receiving a payment, either way it’s good for commerce.
“We’re committed to leading the enablement of new payments technology, which is why we are thrilled to announce the launch of our faster payments platform. This innovation will create real opportunity for our partners, ultimately enabling businesses to grow, be more efficient and issue payments more quickly,” said Sheree Thornsberry, Meta EVP and Head of Payments. “This platform enables our partners to deposit funds in near real-time, providing quicker access to funds for consumers and improved cash-flow for businesses.”
I am especially interested in to see if Meta Payment Systems, a division of MetaBank will move further into the B2B portion of payments? There will be significant growth in the business channels as it relates to streamlining and modernizing the business payment processes. In fact, we are already seeing entrants making inroads in this space as companies are figuring out portions of the business payment payables process.
“Digital connectivity is opening up new ways of doing business,” said Jess Turner, Executive Vice President, Digital Payments and Labs, North America, Mastercard. “Mastercard Send is designed to work with banks, businesses, digital players, governments and more. It helps them to speed up the way they send money, domestically and cross border, and transform the user experience.”
Overview by Sue Brown, Director, Prepaid Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group