Mastercard Joins Marco Polo Global Trade Finance Network

Mastercard announced it has joined the Marco Polo Network.

The network — and its more than 25 member banks — aims to unlock a potential $1.5 trillion opportunity in global trade finance. Mastercard Track, a B2B global trade enablement platform, will be working with the Marco Polo Network to provide more businesses with access to the network’s trade and working capital finance solutions.

“Adding Mastercard as our latest member is an important step for realizing our vision towards a more agile global trade environment,” said Daniel Cotti, managing director of the Center of Excellence, Banking & Trade at TradeIX. “The scale and reach of Mastercard will complement and enable the large number of financial service providers who have pioneered the formation of the Marco Polo network over the past couple of years.”

Launched in 2018, Mastercard Track unifies access to business identity information through a secure repository of more than 210 million registered entities worldwide, reducing the time it takes for businesses to identify, vet and onboard new trading partners.

“When there is trust, there will be trade,” said Claire Thompson, EVP of enterprise partnerships at Mastercard. “By connecting our Mastercard Track platform with a leading group such as Marco Polo, we’re further lowering the barriers to access trade finance for business of all sizes globally. We’re excited about scaling a connected digital trade ecosystem together.”

“With Mastercard and Marco Polo joining forces, we can even better address some of the most pressing challenges that are holding back businesses wanting to trade globally,” added Jacques Levet, transaction banking head EMEA at BNP Paribas. “Better flow of information across the whole value chain has the potential to drive significant benefits for all network members.”

“The future of enterprise technology is in integrated systems which break down silos and enable seamless interaction between services,” said David E. Rutter, CEO of R3. “That is exactly the promise of blockchain platforms like Corda across enterprise activity. Through this collaboration between the Marco Polo Network and Mastercard, I’m excited to see the opportunities to connect together and create more joined-up, efficient and effective trade finance processes for both institutions and enterprises.”