Mastercard has partnered with South African payments platform Glyde Payments to launch a virtual card solution aimed at streamlining cross-border supplier payments for travel businesses in Southern Africa.
Powered by the Mastercard Wholesale Program, the platform allows travel agencies and intermediaries to issue a unique Virtual Card Number (VCN) for each booking and supplier transaction. Glydepay is the first issuer of a Mastercard Wholesale Program card in Southern Africa.
Each VCN can be configured with specific spending parameters, including the payment amount, merchant, and period of use. The system is designed to give travel businesses greater control over transactions, improve payment visibility, and simplify reconciliation, while helping to reduce the risk of fraud and chargebacks.
Travel and tourism were forecast to contribute R659.8bn to South Africa's economy in 2025, equivalent to 8.9% of GDP. The Mastercard-Glyde collaboration is intended to improve payment efficiency across the travel sector, including by providing greater flexibility in managing working capital and supplier payments.
Darryl Adriaanzen, country manager, Southern Africa at Mastercard, said: “Travel is one of the most powerful engines of growth across Southern Africa, and the businesses behind every journey deserve payment tools designed for the way they work. We are proud to collaborate with Glyde on this innovative solution for the travel industry in Southern Africa. By bringing the Mastercard Wholesale Program to the region, we are providing travel companies with a smarter, safer and more transparent way to pay suppliers around the world.”
Virtual cards for B2B travel payments
The Mastercard Wholesale Program is designed for business-to-business (B2B) travel payments. Mastercard states that more than 400,000 suppliers across multiple countries are paid through the programme, which has operated in the travel sector for over a decade.
Glyde has incorporated compliance and reporting for international transactions directly into its platform, supporting cross-border supplier payments for travel businesses in the region.
Paulina Klotzbücher, CEO of Glyde Payments, said: “We built Glyde to make payments effortless for the businesses that keep the travel industry moving. Collaborating with Mastercard allows us to combine our travel payments platform with the scale and trust of a global network. Travel companies across Southern Africa can now issue a virtual card for every transaction, with the control, reporting and compliance they have always needed.”
The partnership extends Mastercard's work with travel payment providers in Europe and other markets to Southern Africa, bringing its virtual card capabilities to the region.
