Mastercard and CYBG, owner of the Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank and B brands, today announced that they will extend their partnership, with CYBG switching all of their remaining Visa credit cards to Mastercard.
The 7-year agreement means that all CYBG debit, credit and commercial cards will use the Mastercard network. The two organisations will offer additional payment solutions, protect customers against fraud, and create a better banking experience for customers.
The deal represents a significant investment by both parties and demonstrates Mastercard’s commitment to increase the issuance of its cards in the UK. The renewed partnership also allows Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank’s business customers to benefit from the enhanced functionality to control and add flexibility to their company’s future spending.
The partnership will leverage Mastercard’s digital payments expertise, fraud analytics and innovation capabilities in order to deliver convenient, safe and secure payment services to the bank and its customers. It will focus heavily on safety and security, using Mastercard innovations to protect CYBG’s customers against fraud.
CYBG cardholders will also have access to exclusive offers from Mastercard’s Priceless sponsorship assets, such as the BRITs and UEFA Champions League, and the widest acceptance of any network, both in the UK and overseas, with 43.5million available locations.
Mark Barnett, Divisional President for Mastercard UK & Ireland, said: “CYBG is an exciting and diverse challenger bank, and already a valued Mastercard partner. Our renewed agreement will see us issuing even more Mastercard cards in the UK, as well as focusing on security and fraud solutions so that CYBG customers can benefit from some of our newest innovations. We’re especially excited to support on B - earlier this year we partnered to create a technology showcase within the Clydesdale Bank’s Edinburgh flagship store at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and we’ll be bringing it to Studio B in London in 2018.”
Fergus Murphy, Group Customer Value Director, CYBG said: “We are delighted to be extending our partnership with Mastercard into a new long-term agreement. This is in line with our continued focus on finding innovative solutions that benefit our customers “
CYBG was floated on the Stock Exchange in 2016, establishing it as one of the UK’s leading challenger banks - the only independent challenger bank offering retail and business banking, with a full branch, telephone, online and mobile service.
Since its IPO, the Bank has invested significantly in its digital banking services. Its innovative B brand was launched in 2016 - an award-winning digital banking service that uses a smart app to help customers manage their money. B, which has over 100,000 customers, is powered by CYBG’s iB digital platform - an open API architecture platform that leverages the power of Big Data providing valuable customer insights for the Bank and its customers.
Earlier this year, Mastercard announced it was increasing its issuance of debit cards in the UK with TSB - all of the bank’s current account customers will receive a Mastercard debit card in 2018. Other banks in the UK with retail current account propositions, such as Virgin Money and Citibank, issued debit Mastercard to their customers in 2017. Metro Bank also issues Mastercard debit cards, and Mastercard is the network of choice for all of the UK’s digital banks.