Mastercard continues to expand its cross-border payment offerings through a new collaboration with Citi. The two financial giants are teaming up to offer cross-border payments to Mastercard debit cards in 14 receiving markets worldwide, including the U.S.
Although Mastercard has previously teamed up with several regional financial institutions, Citi is the first global bank to enable cross-border payments to Mastercard debit cards. This service is available to Citi clients across 65 origination countries spanning the corporate, financial institutions, e-commerce, and commercial sectors.
Citi and Mastercard are promoting the solution for a range of use cases, including insurance payouts, airline refunds, compensation payments, on-demand payments to freelancers and gig economy workers, e-commerce payments to merchants, and refunds to customers. The new offering leverages Mastercard Move, a suite of global payments solutions that cover both domestic and cross-border transactions. Mastercard Move’s cross-border services now reach more than 95% of the world’s banked population across 280 countries.
This is just one of the ways Mastercard has aggressively expanded its cross-border portfolio recently. Last year, the company introduced Cross-Border Services Express, allowing financial institutions to set up international payments for their customers. “Cross-Border Services Express levels the playing field and provides small and mid-tier banks, including credit unions and community banks, with the same international payments features regardless of their size and scale,” Alan Marquard, Executive Vice President of Transfer Solutions at Mastercard, noted in a prepared statement.
Partnerships Around the World
Recent partnerships with many of the world’s leading financial institutions highlight the growing demand for faster cross-border payments. An alliance with China’s Alipay, announced in March, reflects the growing consumer demand for faster online cross-border payments in and out of China.
Last November, Mastercard announced a strategic partnership with Dubai Islamic Bank to launch cross-border payment services for both peer-to-peer and business-to-business transfers. This collaboration further demonstrates the United Arab Emirates’ determination to transform its payments ecosystems, both domestically and internationally.
“Cross-border payment solutions that ride on card rails are a game changer,” Albert Bodine, Director of Commercial and Enterprise Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, noted upon the introduction of Cross-Border Services Express in 2023. “The relative ease of payment versus other methods will move card-based toward the instrument of choice.”
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