Advertisement

Mastercard (MA) Expands Start Path Program to Assist Startups

Mastercard Incorporated MA recently expanded its startup engagement program — Start Path. Through this initiative, the company has invited 10 fintechs from across the globe to take part in this program.

Notably, the program forms part of Mastercard’s Accelerate portfolio, which was launched last year to enable the company to work with fintechs spanning across all stages of growth and transformation.

The Start Path program, which has a tenure of six months, will empower these startups with an access to Mastercard’s technology, expertise and network of partners ranging from banks and merchants to technology and digital players. This access will enable the startups to launch innovative solutions and devise ways of bringing in enhanced security for business payments, which in turn, is likely to help them in adding scalability to their businesses.

It is worth mentioning that the Start Path program has an impressive history of helping startups since its launch in 2014, as evident from the participation of over 250 startups in the program. Several startups, which have been part of this program, have raised $2.9 billion in post-program investments.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company have gained 24.4% in a year compared with the industry’s growth of 5.3%.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The company’s peers, namely, Envestnet, Inc. ENV and Visa Inc. V have rallied 22% and 18.5%, respectively, in a year’s time, while that of EVO Payments, Inc. EVOP have lost 3.6% in the same time period.

The latest move of Mastercard reinforces the fact that the global Fintech market remains well-poised for growth and hence, providing necessary assistance in the form of higher funding and investments to the fintech startups is of utmost importance. Per a report by The Business Research Company, the global Fintech market is expected to witness a CAGR of 9.2% and 11.1% by 2023 and 2030, respectively.

It is worth pointing out that the fintech sector has been more resilient to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the others.

With Mastercard being the preferred choice of partners for fintechs, it has always emphasized on increasing usage of digital transactions with the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the trend further. The trend is likely to sustain even beyond the pandemic. Mastercard has been striving to make investments to devise innovative solutions in order to bring more people under the ambit of digital economy. Growing popularity of contactless payments and the rising adoption of digital transactions worldwide are likely to position Mastercard well for long-term growth.

Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a Generation

Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, it’s expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity.

A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft in the 1990s. Zacks’ just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time.

See 8 breakthrough stocks now>>


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Mastercard Incorporated (MA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Visa Inc. (V) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Envestnet, Inc (ENV) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
EVO Payments, Inc. (EVOP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research