Mastercard works with thousands of financial institutions worldwide, and this commercial partnership follows Mastercard’s investment into Pollinate in 2019. It deepens collaboration in product development, business development and marketing efforts across Europe, Africa, Asia, and both North and South America.

Both Mastercard and Pollinate recognise the importance of small and medium businesses (SMEs) to communities and economies around the world. With SMEs accounting for 90% of businesses and 50% of employment worldwide, supporting them is even more crucial after Covid-19. Central to this support is the ability for SMEs to access the digital tools and payment solutions that will enable them to survive and thrive.

The Pollinate platform gives banks a modern toolkit for their SME customers. The platform is a cloud-based data and digital experience layer that can sit on top of any bank’s existing infrastructure (terminal estate, processor, gateways). The platform allows a bank to enter acquiring, or transform their existing business without changing their underlying infrastructure. Banks can offer their merchants digital onboarding, and a portal that acts as a central hub of a merchant’s business. The portal has sales and settlement information and proprietary tools such as digital loyalty programs and accounting integrations. The partnership with Mastercard deepens the portal functionality by adding Mastercard products and solutions such as deeper insights and stronger ecommerce functionality.


“Small businesses have an outsized impact on the global economy. We’re committed to powering small businesses globally, helping them sustain themselves with the right tools, network innovation, insights, services and assistance to thrive in the digital economy,” said Zahir Khoja, Executive Vice President of Merchants Solutions and Partnerships, Mastercard. “Our work with Pollinate and the wider issuer and acquirer solutions ecosystem supports our collective goal to offer digital payment solutions for small and medium size businesses to deliver a seamless experience for their customers in a time of need.”

Alastair Lukies CBE, founder & CEO of Pollinate, commented: “With SMEs being the cornerstone of the global economy and providing half the world’s jobs, supporting their growth and recovery has never been more important. Both Pollinate and Mastercard are passionate about working with banks to bring SMEs best in class services. Mastercard has demonstrated a long commitment to SMEs, and we are honoured to deepen our partnership.”