Mastercard (NYSE: MA) and ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading global provider of real-time digital payment software, today announced a new partnership that will offer Mastercard Direct ServicesTM to issuers, processors and other payment technology providers through a single API connection on ACI payment platforms.

Mastercard Direct Services provides a single connection point to access a wide range of Mastercard value-added services, regardless of the network, and is part of the Mastercard AccessTM suite of solutions. Increasingly, people expect to access the latest features and innovations. Nearly 70 percent of consumers prefer brands that offer an easy and convenient digital experience.

By enabling access to a wide array of services directly through ACI Enterprise Payments Platform, the total time, complexity and resources required to bring new solutions online reduces significantly - now delivered in weeks, as opposed to months. The extended suite of innovative value-added services includes Safety Net, Decision Intelligence, Mastercard Digital Enablement Services, Consumer Controls, with further services to be added.

“Payments have become increasingly complex and this partnership underscores our commitment to simplifying that complexity for issuers and processors,” says Kaushik Gopal, Executive Vice President, Cyber & Intelligence at Mastercard. “Not only does this enable easier access to Mastercard’s current suite of solutions, but it also ensures simple and efficient access to innovations as the payments landscape continues to evolve rapidly.”

Mastercard Direct Services can also be applied across all transaction types, both on and off the Mastercard network, offering ACI customers a consistent and streamlined approach to their payment and fraud operations through their existing payments engine. For example, enterprise fraud solutions - such as ACI Fraud Management - can be enriched using Mastercard’s Decision Intelligence solution to reduce false positives across all transaction types, regardless of how they are switched, and correctly identify more fraudulent transactions overall.

“Our integration with Mastercard Direct Services marks the next step in ACI’s long-standing collaboration. We are leveraging the partnership to add value for financial institutions through expanded services and new pathways to payments modernization,” said Jeremy Wilmot, chief product officer, ACI Worldwide. “The benefit of Direct Services is that it encompasses transactions beyond the Mastercard network, extending the markets in which pre-integrated connectivity can quickly add value for our customers.”

Mastercard Direct Services is pre-integrated with the ACI Enterprise Payments Platform, and is currently available to customers utilizing the BASE24, BASE 24-eps and Postilion payment engines.