FAB first in MENA to adopt Oracle-Mastercard virtual card solution for B2B finance payments 

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), UAE’s global bank and one of the world’s largest and safest financial institutions, is the first bank in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to pilot an innovative embedded finance and payments solution developed in partnership with Oracle and Mastercard. This collaboration combines the strengths of the two industry leaders to revolutionize business-to-business (B2B) finance and payments processes for FAB clients, enhancing efficiency, security, financial transparency, and supplier relationships.

The integration of Mastercard’s virtual card platform directly into Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, addresses common challenges in commercial payments—such as fragmented data, systems, and processes—by delivering a seamless turnkey payment solution that eliminates the need for costly and time-consuming technology implementations.

According to the 2024 ‘Payment Practices Barometer’, nearly 40% of businesses in the UAE highlight inefficient payment processes as the primary cause of delayed payments. Through this partnership, FAB’s corporate customers will benefit from faster, more secure, and transparent payments. The virtual card solution automates manual tasks, streamlines workflows, and offers real-time insight into cash flow and spending, helping businesses enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs.

FAB provides corporate clients with advanced and efficient tools to meet their evolving business needs. The partnership with Oracle and Mastercard reinforces FAB’s commitment to being a future-ready bank, enabling regional businesses to optimise payment processes, streamline operations, and access a wider range of value-added banking services.

Through the partnership, recently announced at the Oracle CloudWorld Tour Dubai conference, FAB aims to empower corporate clients with:

• Seamless payment automation: Streamlined payments directly within Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, reducing manual entry and operational costs.

• Increased security: Secure payments with single-use card numbers, reducing fraud risk and enhancing the protection of sensitive financial data.

• Optimised financial management: Consolidated cash flow insights, with the ability to extend working capital, reduce costs and earn rebates.

• Enhanced supplier relationships: Faster, more reliable payments and simplified reconciliation for suppliers.

• Global reach: Simplified cross-border transactions in compliance with local regulations, backed by Mastercard’s global network.

Gina Petersen-Skyrme, SVP and Country Manager, UAE and Oman, Mastercard, stated, "In an increasingly fast paced environment, businesses of all kinds are turning to virtual cards to bring the ease, security, and efficiencies of digitization to their operations. At Mastercard, we are delighted to leverage our innovative virtual card platform to expand the benefits of embedded finance in Oracle Cloud ERP to FAB’s commercial customers."

Liam Nolan, Vice President of Applications Development at Oracle, commented, "This collaboration introduces a proven consumer payment method to the B2B world, simplifying supplier onboarding, reducing risk, and enhancing working capital management for both buyers and suppliers. Mutual customers can now streamline key finance and operational functions and enhance working capital management."