Mastercard has introduced a new API to ease embedding payments into B-to-B platforms as well as a new clearing controls capability that give more control over virtual card transactions, the company announced.
Mastercard's Commercial Connect API gives platforms, including travel and expense management platforms, a single solution to embed payments across Mastercard's issuers rather than requiring multiple APIs, according to Mastercard. That will enable quicker integrations for the platforms to enable customers to use corporate cards directly within their tools, the company said.
In addition, Mastercard announced a new clearing controls capability for virtual cards, through which transactions can be blocked at the clearing stage—before settlement—if they are not compliant to such parameters as transaction limits and merchant code restrictions, according to Mastercard. That will help reduce chargebacks, with the travel and hospitality sector having seen the highest average chargeback value among industries in Mastercard's 2025 state of chargebacks report.
Those clearing controls will be available for issuers and their corporate customers in 2026, according to Mastercard.