Mastercard has launched Advanced B2B Analytics, a platform that uses AI to help banks and their corporate clients identify which suppliers are most likely to accept card payments. The company announced the platform from Purchase, New York, on September 28, 2026.
Mastercard said supplier payments remain one of the biggest pain points for banks and corporates, and that issuers and buyers often have no data driven way to decide which suppliers to approach about card acceptance. Scattered data and manual work can delay efforts to get suppliers paid by card, leaving companies on less efficient payment methods for longer, even though Mastercard’s own research found nearly half of suppliers expect buyers to ask to pay by card more often in the coming years.
The platform uses AI to score suppliers on how likely they are to accept cards, and turns a company’s accounts payable data into interactive dashboards, with insights that Mastercard says can be produced in minutes. Corporate clients can use them to see their payment flows more clearly, manage working capital and target supplier outreach, while Mastercard’s Advisors & Transformation consulting team helps with recommendations on which suppliers to prioritise. For issuers, Mastercard presents the tool as a way to deepen client relationships and capture a larger share of what it estimates is an $80 trillion B2B payments opportunity.
Marc Pettican, global head of Corporate Solutions at Mastercard, said the issue is not a shortage of payment data but how little of it gets used, and that the platform is designed to show issuers where card acceptance will add the most value.
“Businesses today are sitting on vast amounts of payment data, but too often it remains fragmented and underutilized,” he said. “With Advanced B2B Analytics, we’re combining powerful insights with our deep commercial payments expertise to help issuers identify where card acceptance can deliver the greatest value, engage suppliers more effectively and drive measurable growth.”
B2B Analytics: What It Means
Absa Group and Emirates NBD are among the first banks to offer the platform to their corporate clients, using it to pinpoint supplier acceptance opportunities, speed up virtual card adoption and get more value from their payables.
Pascalle Albrecht, Executive for Commercial Issuing, Product at Absa Business Banking, framed the tool as a way to help clients make better day to day decisions about how they pay suppliers.
“We understand that businesses need meaningful insights to make important decisions every day. Our partnership with Mastercard gives clients a smarter way to understand their payment ecosystems, unlock value across their supplier networks and improve cash flow management,” she said. “Through this new capability, we are helping businesses operate more efficiently and succeed in a rapidly changing environment.”
Mastercard described the platform as the first foundational B2B capability in a wider plan to build AI into the full commercial payments lifecycle, with insights to be extended to suppliers and acquirers over time.
For corporate treasury and procurement teams, the practical value lies in knowing where to start. Moving suppliers onto card has often meant working through long supplier lists with little sense of who is likely to agree, and a ranked list could make that effort more focused. For banks, it offers a way to grow commercial card volumes by helping clients rather than simply selling to them.
Digital Trade Outlook: What stands out is where Mastercard has chosen to apply AI: not in the payment itself, but in the slow, manual work of deciding which suppliers to move onto card, a step that often holds back commercial card growth. With Absa and Emirates NBD among the first banks on board, the real test will be whether better targeting leads to measurably higher supplier acceptance, something Mastercard has not yet published figures on.
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