Mastercard and NatWest have joined forces to launch a mobile virtual card payment tool.

It’s worth noting that the mentioned joint product of the giant of the global payment industry and one of the largest financial institutions in the United Kingdom is designed for business.

The new product, which has been named Approval2Buy, is the first service in Europe to use the Mastercard app for mobile virtual cards. The relevant information is contained in the NatWest press release.

NatWest Managing Director for Customer Goals and Journeys, Andrew Harrison, said that new payment technologies provide new opportunities for business progress. He noted that virtual cards are a great example of confirming the mentioned thesis. According to him, businesses can now use the specified cards to make transactions at points of sale, applying mobile phones. He also noted that this additional feature contributed to the formation of new use cases. Andrew Harrison stated that the mentioned feature will expand the market, as it will be useful for contingent labor, temporary employees, or where the card is needed for a certain period, for example, for a day, week, or month.

The bank’s press release contains information according to which virtual cards can be instantly generated for online use and for making Tap and Go payment transactions through digital wallets. Financial units can use these cards to customize sending controls. Temporary workers, infrequent travelers, and recruits can also pay for corporate trips as part of an appropriate functional solution.

It is worth noting that virtual cards are gradually becoming an increasingly popular product in the financial services area. For example, the corresponding tendency is currently observed in North America. The results of a special industry study indicate that companies belonging to the category of medium-sized businesses have increased the use of virtual cards by 54% since the beginning of 2023 and as of today at the expense of more traditional forms of working capital.

Last week, Abhishek, global head of B2B Acceptance at Visa, said during a conversation with media representatives that virtual cards should be forgotten as a payment rail since in fact, it is a working capital rail. Also, in the relevant context, it was noted separately that most corporations do not have sufficient experience to streamline the payables and receivables. Against this background, corporations are looking for integrated solutions that combine everything into a single system. Abhishek underlined that virtual maps offer an end-to-end ecosystem.

Chad Wallace, executive vice president and global head of Commercial Solutions at Mastercard, in January, during a conversation with media representatives, spoke about the practice of using virtual cards in the B2B healthcare sector in India. He noted that applying the mentioned cards helped speed up the payment process between insurance companies and medical providers. The health sector is a complex functional environment. At the same time, this circumstance in no way means that payment for services cannot be simple in this space.

As we have reported earlier, Mastercard Launches AI-Powered Digital Assistant Tool.