Press Release

Reimagining possibilities: Markaaz partners with Mastercard to create small business solutions

October 11, 2021 | New York, NY

One-of-a-kind platform – products, services, tools and education – sets small business owners up for a successful new year ahead

Markaaz and Mastercard today announced a new partnership in which Mastercard will bring products and services – including in the areas of payments and security – to the Markaaz platform to help support small businesses. With a powerful set of tools, services and data, Mastercard and Markaaz, the world’s first pre-verified community of businesses, will partner to enable users to save critical time and money in identifying and working with their partners.

Small businesses spend on average 17 days a year verifying and re-verifying themselves for everything they need, ranging from bank loans, to insurance, to other services and more. Annually this represents an inefficiency of over $1.7 trillion. Mastercard brings a suite of assets and expertise to Markaaz to help businesses reduce complexity and increase efficiencies including: Mastercard Track™ Business Payments Service, RiskRecon’s assessment of cyber risk and vulnerabilities to businesses and Finicity’s real-time access to financial data and insights. Upon integration into Markaaz’s dashboard, the all-in-one solution will provide customers a pre-verified community of businesses, educational resources, digital tools and best-in-class payment capabilities – everything they need to manage and grow their business.

“This partnership with Mastercard is a very significant one for Markaaz,” says Hany Fam, Founder and CEO of Markaaz. “We are thrilled that Mastercard is able to bring its capabilities, know-how and team to bear to develop unique assets and resources for this partnership.”

Earlier this year, Markaaz announced a partnership with Equifax to use its data and insights to support the Markaaz platform. Equifax and Markaaz have a shared commitment to getting small businesses back to growth by connecting them to their supplier ecosystem easily and confidently - a commitment that aligns with the new Mastercard-Markaaz relationship.

While several solutions are available today that help owners digitize their small businesses, there is a need for even further flexibility and simplicity in payments. With Mastercard, Equifax and a number of other partners, Markaaz continues to build out its suite of resources for small businesses focused on the most critical needs including support with cash flow, customer and supplier management, accounting and cybersecurity.

“Mastercard is deeply committed to supporting the needs of small businesses in our increasingly digital world,” said Ginger Siegel, North America Small Business Lead at Mastercard. “We are pleased to bring the power of Mastercard’s open banking, cyber risk and ID-verification tools to Markaaz to create a richer value proposition for small businesses.”

This partnership builds on Mastercard’s commitment to helping small businesses, through and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, Mastercard pledged to invest $250 million in financial, technology, product and services support over the next five years to small businesses in the United States and other markets where it operates, supporting the vitality of businesses and the financial security of their workers.

Markaaz will jointly host a booth with Mastercard and Equifax at CNBC Small Business Expo in New York on October 22nd, where businesses, media and others will be able to meet the team and learn more about this unique partnership.

Media Contacts

About Markaaz

Markaaz is the world’s first global platform to connect small businesses and the network of partners that support them. Through the largest and most comprehensive, global, pre-verified Directory of small businesses, an all-in-one Dashboard with integrated tools and resources, and a user experience supported by AI, Markaaz will deliver accessible, affordable, and inclusive solutions to empower small businesses globally starting in the US market. Recognized internationally by the World Economic Forum as a Global Innovator and founded by a team of world-class executives and advisors who have done this before, and in collaboration with strategic partners, Markaaz is driving equitable and inclusive solutions for SMBs around the world. Learn more at www.markaaz.com

About Mastercard (NYSE: MA)

Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.

www.mastercard.com