Nexi picks Mastercard to power open banking payments in Europe

By Gloria Methri

European PayTech Nexi has chosen Mastercard as its strategic partner across Europe to support open banking account-based payments. Through this partnership, Mastercard Open Banking will facilitate e-commerce payments across Nexi’s gateways serving merchants across Europe.

Together, the two companies will build an integrated digital payment ecosystem by advancing Mastercard Open Banking-powered solutions that offer secure, seamless payment experiences with more choices for consumers when shopping online.

Unlike more traditional payment options, open banking allows anyone with a bank account to initiate swift digital payments to a merchant’s account. Payments are initiated directly through existing authentication protocols with a consumer’s bank, including biometrics, to retrieve the necessary information to execute a payment, making the experience easy and efficient.

Benefits for merchants include real-time payment authorization and settlement, enabling quick access to funds and improved management of cash flow and revenue streams.

“We are excited to lead the development of an account-based payment method that will make online purchases more seamless and secure as well as expand payment choice in partnership with Nexi,” said Bart Willaert, EVP, of International Open Banking at Mastercard. “We have been powering and protecting our global payments network and the broader digital ecosystem for more than five decades, and now Mastercard’s innovative open banking technology will offer consumers and businesses across Europe access to more innovative payment experiences.”

“We are thrilled to announce our strategic collaboration with Mastercard, through which we will harness the power of its open banking solutions in Europe to scale and enhance our capabilities, and boost customer convenience in payments,” said Omar Haque, Head of eCommerce at Nexi. “By partnering with Mastercard and capitalizing on its leadership and expertise in open banking, as well as its trusted payments infrastructure, we further enhance our ability to facilitate the transition to a digital-first payments landscape in Europe.”