Mastercard Enhances Virtual Cards to Streamline B2B Spend

Mastercard has added new security controls, single application programming interface (API) access, and expanded embedded payments capabilities to its virtual card number platform, Mastercard In Control.

Together, these new features help enterprises and financial institutions manage virtual card programs with greater security, visibility and scale, the company said in a Thursday (July 23) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

The security controls include new Issuer Enforced Controls that allow issuers to set spend limits and other baseline guardrails when creating the virtual card number, and enhanced Clearing Controls that enable corporates and platforms to block invalid transactions, apply more precise controls and better manage payment timing, according to the release.

The new enhancements to the single-API front door, Commercial Connect API, include expanded card controls, simplified integration and accelerated access to end-to-end payment capabilities, the release said.

The expanded embedded payments capabilities provide a simpler, more unified corporate payment experience; reduce onboarding complexity for issuers, platforms and corporates; and features and expanded ecosystem gained through strategic partnerships and innovative use cases, per the release.

“As payments become more digitized and embedded into business workflows, expectations for performance, security and control are higher than ever,” Marc Pettican, global head of corporate solutions at Mastercard, said of the latest enhancements to Mastercard In Control. “We’re expanding our virtual card capabilities to deliver more unified and scalable experiences — helping partners simplify how they implement and scale virtual card programs with greater security, control and consistency.”

Card-based B2B payments scale most effectively when they align with existing workflows rather than asking supplier to change how they operate, Pettican told PYMNTS in an interview posted in January.

Pettican described Mastercard’s Commercial Connect API as “the one front door to Mastercard,” designed to link payment initiation, remittance data, reconciliation, consent and controls across platforms and acquirers. Virtual card rails were embedded from the outset, and support for additional B2B payment capabilities was set to be added over time.

When Mastercard and J.P. Morgan Payments announced in March that they launched a new virtual card in Europe that is designed to support traditional accounts payable needs in industries such as insurance, healthcare, travel and commercial real estate, Karen Ions, head of commercial card client management and delivery at J.P. Morgan Payments, said “virtual cards bring clarity, security and agility to the process.”