Mastercard adds controls and API features to virtual card platform

Mastercard has added security controls, single-API access and broader embedded payments functions to Mastercard In Control, its platform for issuing and managing virtual card numbers. The company said Thursday that the changes are intended to give enterprises and financial institutions more control, visibility and scale in business-to-business payments programmes.

Virtual cards create card numbers for specific transactions, suppliers or spending categories, allowing companies and their banks to apply rules before payments are made and to track activity after authorization and clearing. For corporates, the instrument can sit inside accounts payable processes, with controls governing how much can be spent, where a card can be used and when a transaction should be accepted.

Mastercard said the new security features include Issuer Enforced Controls, which allow issuing banks to set spend limits and baseline restrictions when a virtual card number is created. The company also said it has enhanced Clearing Controls, giving corporates and platforms tools to block invalid transactions, apply more precise controls and better manage payment timing.

The updates also expand Commercial Connect API, which Mastercard describes as a single front door for commercial payment capabilities. According to the company, the API enhancements include broader card controls, simpler integration and faster access to end-to-end payment functions.

In payments infrastructure, an application programming interface allows different systems to exchange instructions and data without each participant building a separate connection for every function. Mastercard’s approach is designed to connect payment initiation, remittance data, reconciliation, consent and controls across platforms and acquirers, Marc Pettican, the company’s global head of corporate solutions, told PYMNTS in an interview published in January.

Mastercard said the embedded payments additions are intended to create a more unified corporate payment experience and reduce onboarding complexity for issuers, platforms and corporates. The company also pointed to expanded features and ecosystem capabilities linked to strategic partnerships and new use cases.

“As payments become more digitized and embedded into business workflows, expectations for performance, security and control are higher than ever,” Pettican said in the company’s release. He said Mastercard is expanding its virtual card capabilities to help partners implement and scale programmes with greater security, control and consistency.

Pettican told PYMNTS in January that card-based B2B payments scale most effectively when they fit into existing workflows rather than requiring suppliers to change how they operate. He said at the time that Commercial Connect API was designed to link several parts of the payment process across platforms and acquirers, with virtual card rails included from the outset and additional B2B capabilities expected to be added over time.

The enhancements follow other activity in Mastercard’s commercial card business. In March, Mastercard and J.P. Morgan Payments announced a virtual card in Europe designed to support traditional accounts payable needs in sectors including insurance, healthcare, travel and commercial real estate. Karen Ions, head of commercial card client management and delivery at J.P. Morgan Payments, said at the time that virtual cards bring clarity, security and agility to the payment process.

This story draws on original reporting from PYMNTS.