New fintech tie-ups across gaming, SMB financing, and travel expense accounting.

Mastercard and Xsolla

Mastercard (NYSE: MA) and Xsolla have announced a partnership to improve the digital payment experiences for gamers. The collaboration aims to provide secure, frictionless and rewarding payments for gamers, from in-game currency gifting to improved creator payout processes.

The companies will combine Mastercard’s technology and expertise with Xsolla’s platform to provide more accessible payment options for players, developers, and creators. Mastercard cardholders will be able to use “Pay with Points” to redeem loyalty points for in-game purchases. Players will also have the opportunity to gift in-game currency to friends and family. In addition, Mastercard’s authentication and fraud detection capabilities will give parents control before their child makes in-game purchases.

The companies are working together to solve challenges in the gaming industry, prioritize consumer protection and create new avenues for revenue creation and increased lifetime value for developers.

The Pay with Points solution will be demonstrated at the 2023 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. (Mastercard Newsroom)

IBM and Emkan Finance

IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Emkan Finance have partnered to create a digital financing product for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Saudi Arabia.

The self-service product uses an AI-powered credit decision engine to offer end-to-end digital services, including customer registration and loan disbursement.

FinTechs in the Middle East, Europe and Africa are increasingly turning to AI to expand access to credit, filling the SMB finance gap and creating alternative lending models beyond bank loans.

IBM and Emkan Finance hope that the product will help transform the SMB space in the Kingdom. (PYMNTS)

American Express and Microsoft

American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are teaming up to develop a suite of AI-powered solutions to simplify and automate business travel expenses for employees and companies. A recent survey by American Express found that business travelers and travel expense processors view the expense management process as a major pain point and that there is a need for more automated solutions. (American Express)

The first solution, which will be tested on Microsoft employees later this year, will allow business travelers to take a picture of their receipts and have the AI categorize the transactions, assign a risk score, and pass the information to the expense management system for auto-approval.

The solution will use machine learning to improve over time, with the goal of maximizing the auto-approval of expenses and reducing manual intervention.

The new solution is part of American Express’ efforts to improve the end-to-end payments experience globally.

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay