Mastercard has announced a new mobile virtual card app that enables virtual commercial cards to be “seamlessly” added to digital wallets. The app, according to the announcement, is designed to offer financial institutions more choice in how they deliver the secure and sustainable contactless payment solutions that companies increasingly expect.

As companies navigate changing payment preferences, particularly from the entry-level workforce — with over two-thirds of millennials having adopted digital wallets — mobile technology, according to Mastercard, is unlocking the next frontier of convenient contactless payments.

Chad Wallace, global head of commercial solutions, said businesses worldwide are seeking fast and secure payment experiences, where payments can be made with just a click or tap, and finance teams can experience automatic reconciliation. With this launch, he said, “we’re providing innovative tech that digitizes business and travel expenses, while also empowering businesses with more control of and visibility into their finances.”

The app leverages Mastercard’s virtual card and tokenization platforms, enhanced data, and robust spend controls all within one easy-to-use interface, according to the announcement. Accessing Mastercard mobile virtual cards is made seamless through the app so users can quickly experience the benefits of tap to pay.
Key capabilities and benefits of the app, according to the company, include:

• Increased security: The app offers the ability to set up a biometric authentication and an added security measure using a PIN to view card details. Each virtual card is also tokenized, enabling the cardholder’s sensitive data to be replaced by a unique card number, so sensitive account details are not exposed.
• Robust spend controls: Organizations can confidently stay compliant with expense policies using Mastercard’s transaction-level controls, which limit how, where and when a mobile virtual card can be used.
• Flexible integrations: Financial institutions can quickly get to market through Mastercard’s user interface or flexible API-based integrations, and offer features such as customized card art.
• Holistic and seamless payment experience: The app provides a single interface to check the status of card balances and view pending and completed transactions. It is bank-agnostic, enabling users to access and manage virtual commercial cards issued by multiple participating financial institutions.
• Real-time and enhanced data: For each mobile virtual card created, custom data elements are automatically captured and matched to the transaction, providing organizations with increased insights into spending and automatic reconciliation to optimize back-office processes.

Image: Mastercard