Global payments giant Mastercard has entered into a strategic partnership with European B2B payments platform Pay4You to transform how companies manage their tail spend—those often-overlooked, low-value, high-volume transactions that typically account for around 20% of corporate expenditure.
Announced via FF News, the collaboration will integrate Mastercard’s Virtual Card Network (VCN) technology with Pay4You’s specialized platform to digitize and automate indirect business spending. The goal is to bring greater transparency, control, and efficiency to a complex area of corporate finance that is usually underserved.
Tail spending, though relatively small in individual transaction value, contributes significantly to a company’s operational costs. It also poses compliance risks and creates administrative inefficiencies due to its fragmented nature. The Mastercard-Pay4You initiative aims to tackle these issues by streamlining payment processes, improving financial visibility, and reducing reliance on manual systems.
Mastercard will contribute its robust virtual card technology, enabling more flexible and trackable payments. Pay4You, known for helping businesses optimize working capital through efficient supplier payment solutions, will integrate this technology directly into its B2B platform. The result is a seamless shift from traditional account-to-account (A2A) payments to card-based transactions, offering benefits for both corporates and financial institutions.
Issuers stand to gain by capturing new payment flows previously outside the card ecosystem, while corporates benefit from enhanced compliance and real-time data insights. The partnership also supports Mastercard’s broader strategy to innovate within the B2B payments space and drive digital transformation.
Pay4You, a 2024 finalist in the “Mastercard for Fintechs” competition in Western Europe, will use Mastercard’s latest embedded VCN tools to accelerate virtual card adoption among banks and businesses. The companies aim for 100% card acceptance across Continental Europe.
Pay4You CEO Lourens Stamhuis stated, “We’re proud to partner with Mastercard to revolutionize how businesses handle small supplier payments. This marks a shift in how corporate credit cards are used.” Mastercard’s Johanna Waara echoed this sentiment, calling the partnership “a significant step” in delivering efficient, compliant tail spend solutions.
