The Marco Polo Network, a trade and working capital finance network, is welcoming Mastercard as its latest member. The network – and its over 25 member banks – are working to unlock what the World Trade Organization has identified as a potential $1.5 trillion opportunity in global trade finance.

Mastercard Track™, a B2B global trade enablement platform, and the Marco Polo Network are collaborating to provide more businesses with trusted access to Marco Polo’s trade and working capital finance solutions. Companies of all sizes will benefit from better visibility into trading relationships and easier access to financing options, beyond point to point relationships, to a global network of trading parties.

Launched in the fall of 2018, Mastercard Track unifies access to business identity information through a secure, permissioned repository of more than 210 million registered entities worldwide. Interoperating with leading business to business digital providers, Mastercard Track reduces the time it takes for businesses to identify, vet and onboard new trading partners – and simplifies the end-to-end payment process.

Better and faster access to critical information will work as a catalyst for businesses using the Marco Polo network – which is powered by the trusted Corda blockchain technology from enterprise software company R3 – to tap into working capital provided by global financial institutions.

“When there is trust, there will be trade”, commented Claire Thompson, EVP Enterprise Partnerships at Mastercard. “By connecting our Mastercard Track platform with a leading group such as Marco Polo we’re further lowering the barriers to access trade finance for business of all sizes globally. We’re excited about scaling a connected digital trade ecosystem together.”

“Adding Mastercard as our latest member is an important step for realizing our vision towards a more agile global trade environment”, said Daniel Cotti, Managing Director, Center of Excellence, Banking & Trade at TradeIX. “The scale and reach of Mastercard will complement and enable the large number of financial service providers who have pioneered the formation of the Marco Polo network over the past couple of years.”

“With Mastercard and Marco Polo joining forces, we can even better address some of the most pressing challenges that are holding back businesses wanting to trade globally”, commented Jacques Levet, Transaction Banking Head EMEA, BNP Paribas. “Better flow of information across the whole value chain has the potential to drive significant benefits for all network members.”

“The future of enterprise technology is in integrated systems which break down siloes and enable seamless interaction between services”, said David E. Rutter, CEO of R3. “That is exactly the promise of blockchain platforms like Corda across enterprise activity. Through this collaboration between the Marco Polo Network and Mastercard, I’m excited to see the opportunities to connect together and create more joined up, efficient and effective trade finance processes for both institutions and enterprises.”