Mastercard and The Heart join forces. "This is the only initiative in Poland and Central Europe"

This is the first initiative of this type in Poland and Central Europe.

– Poland is an important market for Mastercard and an increasingly important innovation center in Europe – says Bartosz Ciołkowski, CEO of the company in Poland. – With The Heart and guest partners, we will build new businesses and open global markets – he says.

– As a technology company that develops innovative solutions in cooperation with startups, we understand the many benefits that the development of innovative start-ups brings to large businesses, as well as to the economy as a whole – says Ciołkowski.

And that is why both companies are starting a cooperation. They informed plans at the Fintech Impact & 18 in Lodz. Work timetable? In the first year of The Heart Ventures, five new companies must be created from scratch. They will create innovations in the insurance market, finance or e-commerce. The new start-up design concept complements the existing activities of The Heart and Mastercard, combining the strengths of startups and companies to implement specific business projects, for example in the field of fintech.

– Today, innovations come from cooperation. The strategic partnership with Mastercard gives The Heart Ventures access to unique insights and the ability to create solutions with global potential. By acting together, we are able to globally support companies that are trying to transform their businesses and develop new businesses in an agile way – commented Tomasz Rudolf, president of The Heart.

The Heart is an innovation center for businesses. With the help of technologies created by startups, he co-creates new companies and new products with big companies. In short: combines the ideas of young companies with the needs and capital of large Polish companies. – The Warsaw Heart is a unique place in this part of Europe, supporting the best, ready for the international expansion of startups – says Tomasz Rudolf. The center started operating in mid-2016.

As part of this new project, The Heart will work closely with Mastercard Labs. In this way, companies will jointly use the technologies being developed at 10 sites around the world, where MasterCard research units are located. In Poland, these solutions will be tested and converted into an operational activity.

The investment in The Heart Ventures is another Mastercard activity in Poland aimed at developing innovative startups.

The Heart, associated with Mastercard, will be the regulatory sandbox operator created by the Polish Financial Supervisory Authority. In this way, the KNF and operators will support start-ups while testing new technologies, entering the market and obtaining the necessary authorizations to operate in Poland.

KNF wants to actively support young technology companies in their entry into the financial services market. Until now, regulatory sandboxes are only operational in Singapore, the UK, Switzerland and Australia. The time has come for Poland, which is the first country in continental Europe, where such a solution is being implemented. According to Polish start-ups, the problems of obtaining appropriate permits are one of the main obstacles to development. Before start-up companies get adequate financing, foreign competition can simply conquer the market.

The heart of this tandem will be the sandbox operator responsible for managing the solution testing process, creating the conditions for the participation of fintechs in the program. In turn, Mastercard will provide a test environment.

– The role of Mastercard in this unique global enterprise will be to provide a two-dimensional test infrastructure. The first is the execution of payment transactions and a payment card issuer. Mastercard will also provide in-depth technical support in the field of Fintech qualification for sandstone and consultancy in later phases of the project – says Alexander Naganowski, Director of Business Development at Mastercard.