Mastercard and R3 deliver blockchain cross-border payments solution
Mastercard has partnered with R3 to develop and pilot a new blockchain-enabled cross-border payments solution, reports Jane Connolly.
With Mastercard acting as the network operator to process, clear and settle international payments, the partnership will leverage R3’s Corda ecosystem that connects 300 of the world’s leading financial services firms, tech companies, central banks, trade associations and regulators. 
Initially the project will focus on connecting global faster payments infrastructures, schemes and banks. The partners aim to address problems such as liquidity management, high processing overheads and a lack of standardisation and processes between banks and domestic clearing systems.
“Developing a new and better cross-border B2B payments solution by improving worldwide connectivity in the account-to-account space is central to Mastercard’s ambition,” says Peter Klein, executive vice president, new payment platforms. “Our goal is to deliver global payment infrastructure choice and connectivity as demonstrated through our recent strategic acquisitions and partnerships, including our relationship with R3.”
“All institutions – large or small – rely on the ability to send and receive payments, but all too often the technology they rely upon is cumbersome and expensive,” adds David E Rutter, CEO of R3. “Cross-border payments can be a particular pain point. Corda was designed specifically for enterprise use cases such as this.”
The news follows Mastercard’s acquisition of global payments company Transfast earlier this year.
