MasterCard first introduced the MasterCard Payment Gateway earlier this month. It is an enterprise-wide payment processing platform for routing commercial payments between buyers, suppliers and their financial institutions. The MasterCard Payment Gateway will give First Data customers a streamlined electronic solution designed to increase productivity and profits, while enhancing security and simplifying the entire payments process. The MasterCard Payment Gateway can manage multiple payment types, including card and electronic funds transfer (EFT) and is part of MasterCard's continuing effort to improve the payments process for businesses of all sizes, and revolutionize an industry traditionally dominated by check payments and wire transfers.

"First Data can deliver the benefits of the MasterCard Payment Gateway to more merchants, helping ensure that customers will have access to a robust, secure and cost-effective B2B processing network," said Art Kranzley, executive vice president and group executive, Advanced Payments, MasterCard Worldwide. "This is a major step toward easing the pains that banks, buyers and suppliers expressed to us throughout the extensive research process that drove this platform's development."

First Data's merchants will be invited to participate in the MasterCard Payment Gateway program by their corporate purchasing buyers. Once invited, a merchant simply contacts MasterCard to complete the program registration. First Data will perform the authorization and settlement of funds to the merchants' business checking accounts of buyer-approved card transactions through the MasterCard Payment Gateway.

"The MasterCard Payment Gateway will bring added value to our merchants by speeding up the process in which they are paid," said Barry McCarthy, president, Product and Business Development, First Data. "Not only will it help them better manage their cost of payments, but also enhance their efficiencies in receiving and processing payments."

The MasterCard Payment Gateway is a comprehensive, end-to-end, modular solution that offers several key features, including buyer-initiated Purchasing Card straight through processing, which significantly enhances security and control for corporate users. Other features include:

• Single interface ("one stop shop") for all payment processing needs
• User Interface/Web Portal for payment status reporting
• End-User Integration (with current ERP/AP systems)
• Payment Rules Engine
• Supplier Directory
• Enhanced Remittance Information regardless of payment type

Suppliers that process payments with the MasterCard Payment Gateway enjoy automated payments with straight through processing, decreased paper check processing costs, automated reconciliation via enhanced remittance information for common payment types and preference among buyers that pay electronically.

Buyers that rely on MasterCard Payment Gateway drive efficiencies by streamlining their payment options, integrating with existing accounts payable processes and can save money by enabling one connection. Through this method/gateway, buyers can have one streamlined total payables solution that can help them increase productivity, enhance security and increase profits.

The modular nature of the MasterCard Payment Gateway provides financial institutions with an enterprise-wide electronic solution that they can re-brand and make available to their corporate customers, or integrate into their current product offerings to enhance their functionality and efficiency. This can enable them to increase payment volumes without building infrastructure, potentially grow profits with additional fees, deepen customer relationships and differentiate from the competition.