The news
New Mastercard B2B analytics software aims to show card issuers which of their corporate clients' suppliers are most likely to accept card payments. Mastercard (MA) launched Advanced B2B Analytics on September 28, with Absa Group and Emirates NBD among the first banks offering it.
The platform takes accounts payable data, meaning the records of what a company owes and pays its suppliers, and turns it into supplier payment insights in minutes, according to Mastercard's announcement. Its core feature is what the company calls dynamic acceptance propensity scoring: a ranking, produced with AI-powered infrastructure, of how likely each supplier is to take a card.
Mastercard said users get interactive dashboards on their payables data, more visibility into payment flows for working capital planning, and support for targeted outreach to suppliers. Issuers can also draw on consulting from Mastercard's Advisors & Transformation team on which suppliers to prioritize. PYMNTS reported that the combination is meant to streamline procurement and speed up commercial card adoption.
The product is aimed at financial institutions that issue commercial cards and at their corporate customers. Mastercard did not give a general availability date or list the markets where the tool is offered beyond naming its first bank partners. Pascalle Albrecht, an executive for commercial issuing at Absa, said the partnership gives clients a clearer view of their payment ecosystems and supplier networks and helps them manage cash flow.
Marc Pettican, Mastercard's global head of corporate solutions, framed the problem as one of wasted data. "Businesses today are sitting on vast amounts of payment data," he said, adding that it is often fragmented and underused. He said the tool is designed to help issuers see where card acceptance delivers the most value and engage suppliers more effectively.
Mastercard tied the launch to the size of the market it is chasing, which it puts at approximately $80 trillion in addressable business-to-business (B2B) payments. The company also cited its own research finding that nearly half of suppliers expect buyers to ask to pay by card more often.
The numbers
- Addressable B2B payments opportunity (Mastercard estimate)
- About $80 trillion
- Suppliers expecting more buyer requests to pay by card (Mastercard research)
- Nearly half
- Time to supplier payment insights (company claim)
- Minutes
- First named bank partners
- 2 (Absa Group, Emirates NBD)
Why CEOs should care
For CFOs and accounts payable leaders, the practical question is what happens when your bank brings you a list of suppliers it thinks will take a card. Before acting on it, ask who bears the acceptance cost, whether shifting a supplier to card changes your payment terms or rebates, and how the move affects relationships with vendors that matter most. The scores are a sales tool for the issuer as much as an analytics tool for you.
Data governance deserves equal attention. The service works by analyzing your payables records, so finance and security teams should ask the bank what data is shared with Mastercard, how long it is retained, whether it is used to train models, and how supplier information is protected. Get those answers in writing before connecting accounts payable systems.
Supplier-side finance chiefs should expect more requests to accept cards if tools like this spread; Mastercard's own research says nearly half of suppliers already anticipate more such requests. Now is a good time to model what card acceptance would cost against the benefit of faster payment, so your team can negotiate from numbers rather than react to a buyer's request.
The bigger picture
The launch shows card networks competing for commercial payments by selling data and advice, not just payment rails. By pairing propensity scores with consulting from its Advisors & Transformation team, Mastercard is giving issuers a way to find and convert suppliers that currently get paid by other methods, a pitch aimed at the approximately $80 trillion opportunity it cites.
PYMNTS noted that the product lands in a long-running tension in B2B payments: buyers want longer payment terms, while suppliers want cash sooner. Tools that help banks target the right suppliers could make card programs a more common way to manage that tension, though the economics will be negotiated supplier by supplier.
What’s next
Watch for additional issuers signing on beyond Absa Group and Emirates NBD, any announcement of wider market availability, and whether Mastercard or its bank partners publish results such as supplier conversion rates or changes in commercial card spending.
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