Mastercard and Rellevate Team on Public Sector Digital Payments

Mastercard has teamed with FinTech Rellevate to improve payments and disbursement services for the public sector.

The collaboration, announced Tuesday (Aug. 27), will tap into Rellevate’s digital banking, disbursements and wallet solutions, which the companies say are meant to unlock access to payments technology for underserved communities.

“With a suite of public sector solutions that help communities shift to the safety, security, transparency and speed of digital payments, Mastercard helps governments use technology to further drive financial inclusion,” the release said.

“Together, Rellevate and Mastercard will work with local, city and state governments to create ways for their constituents to access and manage their money faster and more efficiently.”

Stewart Stockdale, Rellevate’s co-founder, chairman and CEO, said the companies’ partnership began with the $1 billion One-Time Cash Assistance Program in Georgia, which supported 3 million of that state’s residents and “included one of the largest deployments of virtual wallets in a government program.”

Rellevate’s other public sector work has involved groups such as UNICEF, Detroit Crime Stoppers, Baltimore African American Male Engagement Program, St. Lucie Public Schools, and Foster Care Agencies “with a first-of-its-kind digital wallet solution,” the release added.

As PYMNTS wrote earlier this month, digital wallets are rapidly transforming the payments space, with projections suggesting they will surpass debit cards in terms of transaction value within three years.

“This transition highlights the role of digital wallets not only as a payment option but also as a versatile tool that boosts consumer engagement and spending,” that report said.

Digital wallets are on pace to outpace debit cards in transaction volume at physical points of sale by 2027, per to a recent Worldpay report. The report shows that digital wallets are used by 53% of Americans and could dominate nearly half of all point-of-sale transactions globally by the end of the decade. The value of transactions made via digital wallets is expected to increase by more than twofold from 15% to 31% by 2027, while debit card transaction value will decrease from 28% to 23% over the same period.

Driving this shift is the convenience of digital wallets, which leads to more consumer spending. Digital wallet users spend 31% more on average that consumers employing other payment methods. The trend is especially pronounced among younger age groups, with 60% of Gen Z and 51% of millennials reporting higher spending when using digital wallets.