Mastercard and IFC Launch $500 Million Settlement Exposure Facility

Mastercard on September 9, 2026 announced the launch of a US$500 million global settlement exposure facility in partnership with the International Finance Corp. (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group focused on the private sector, to accelerate inclusive economic growth by extending digital payments and financial services to underserved populations.

In the announcement, datelined Purchase, New York, Mastercard (MA ) said the facility uses a settlement risk guarantee model aimed at scaling participation in global payment systems, with an initial focus on emerging markets in Europe and Latin America. The launch, the company said, builds on a recent IFC announcement supporting the growth of secure, accessible financial services in emerging markets.

Mastercard said the facility will help financial institutions in emerging markets participate in the Mastercard network seamlessly and is designed to enable cost-effective access to modern payment infrastructure while maintaining strong risk management standards. Building on the organizations’ prior collaborations, the launch reflects a broader joint ambition to launch scalable models that connect capital, technology, and distribution capabilities to bring more people into the formal economy, support micro-, small and medium-sized businesses, and accelerate digitalization.

Mastercard said electronic payments can expand access and opportunity for underserved individuals and small businesses by enabling participation in the formal economy and supporting more resilient commerce, and that extending financial services requires addressing the barriers that can limit financial institutions’ ability to scale access and meet demand. The initiative aligns with Mastercard’s broader focus on advancing financial health, the company said, adding that it has committed to helping connect and protect 500 million people and small businesses on their pathways to financial health by 2030.

“At a time when economic uncertainty, digitization and shifting global dynamics are widening the gap between those connected to the digital economy and those still left outside it, expanding access to trusted financial services has never been more urgent,” said Jon Huntsman, vice chairman and president, Strategic Growth at Mastercard. Huntsman said the partnership is helping banks and fintechs in emerging markets connect more fully to global payment systems, expanding access to secure digital payments, strengthening financial health, and supporting the long-term growth of more inclusive economies.

IFC Guarantee Initiative and Impact Estimates

Also on September 9, 2026, the World Bank Group announced in Washington, D.C., that IFC had launched a risk-sharing initiative to help banks, fintechs, and other financial institutions in emerging markets expand access to digital payments for consumers and small businesses. According to the release, the initiative initially provides up to $700 million in guarantees to cover a portion of the credit settlement risk, enabling more institutions to offer digital payment services to more customers, including small business owners, women entrepreneurs, and people historically shut out of the formal financial system.

In some of these markets, the World Bank Group said, financial institutions are constrained by financial requirements that can limit their ability to participate in global payment ecosystems, leaving millions of people and local merchants reliant on cash and cut off from the convenience, safety, and efficiency digital payments can provide.

The initiative is expected to increase competition and improve the quality and accessibility of payment services, according to the release. IFC estimates that financial institutions participating in the initiative will see digital payments increase by about $280 billion, and expects that participating institutions will issue 360 million more cards and see the number of active users grow by 90 million, including 39 million women.

“Expanding digital payments in emerging markets is one of the most powerful tools to create jobs and bring people into the formal economy,” said IFC Managing Director Makhtar Diop. Diop said that when a small business owner or woman entrepreneur accepts a card payment, it opens the door to more customers, more revenue, and a foothold in the digital economy, but that too many banks and fintechs face financial requirements that limit their ability to expand digital payment services. The initiative changes that, he said, helping businesses expand, create jobs, and bring digital payment services to those who have been left behind.

Prior Mastercard-IFC Risk-Sharing Agreements

The new facility builds on prior collaborations between the two organizations. On April 26, 2018, Mastercard and IFC announced an update to a $250 million global risk-sharing facility intended to expand access to electronic payments in emerging markets, revising an agreement originally signed in 2015. Under the revised agreement, IFC would guarantee up to 100 percent of the settlement risk through a program designed to help financial institutions in developing countries participate in the Mastercard network more effectively, and the new agreement was to support a major expansion of the program to more participating banks and financial institutions.

The 2018 agreement was signed in Washington, D.C., during the World Bank’s annual Spring Meeting by IFC chief operating officer Stephanie von Friedeburg and Michael Froman, vice chairman and president, strategic growth at Mastercard. The 2018 announcement said financial institutions in emerging markets often had difficulty covering their transaction settlement obligations, making it harder to rapidly scale financial services where they were needed most. Mastercard said at the time that it would extend its efforts to identify, develop and implement programs with participating financial institutions, and that it would continue to support a separate 2016 agreement with IFC to increase acceptance of electronic payments among small businesses and micro entrepreneurs in the same markets.

In 2015, Mastercard committed to reach 500 million people previously excluded from financial services within five years, and as of April 2018 the company reported having connected more than 330 million people around the world through programs including the Mastercard-IFC public-private partnership.