Citi, Mastercard team up on cross-border debitcard payments

Mastercard Inc. and Citigroup Inc. are collaborating to facilitate around-the-clock, cross-border payments with debit cards, giving consumers and companies another way to conduct business worldwide.

Citigroup is the first global bank to use the service, known as Mastercard Move, which will allow users to make transactions such as insurance payouts, airline refunds and e-commerce payments, the companies said Thursday in a statement.

The partnership will "enable our clients to make cross-border payments as though there are no borders, no currencies, no constraints," Debopama Sen, head of payments for Citi's Treasury & Trade Solutions business, said in the statement.

Facilitating such transactions is a significant growth opportunity for both Mastercard and larger rival Visa Inc. as commerce continues to become increasingly global. Mastercard also has a relationship with China's Alipay that it expanded earlier this year, giving consumers the option of receiving money in their digital wallets. Visa also has a partnership with Western Union Co. where customers can send money to eligible Visa cards and bank accounts in more than 40 countries.

Citigroup, too, has recognized this shift, similarly enabling cross-border payments to digital wallets and other endpoints. This debit card offering will be available to Citigroup customers in 65 countries to originate the payments, according to the statement.

What makes this method of money movement ideal for some transactions is the nearly real-time nature of it, ranging from seconds to minutes, Alan Marquard, Mastercard's head of transfer solutions, said in an interview.

"They want on-demand payments that can be received quickly and then easily re-spent," he said.