Mastercard, Bizom to provide supply chain financing to micro retailers

Mastercard and Bizom announced a collaboration to extend digital supply chain financing solution to over 75 lakh micro retailers and 2 lakh distributors of the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry.

Small retailers and distributors in India face several challenges including supply chain disruptions, inventory management, payment issues, limited technical skills and lack of access to capital, that impacts their business operations and growth prospects.

According to recent reports, out of over 64 million MSMEs in India, only 14 per cent have access to formal credit. The partnership between Mastercard and Bizom will aim to address this gap and help retailers to grow their business.

Bizom will work with its vast network of over 75 lakh retailers and 2 lakh distributors operating in the CPG industry to automate route-to-market operations, with its best-in-class SaaS offerings. Mastercard will enable the adoption of digital payments for micro retailers and connect them to lending partners for easy access to credit. Mastercard will also bring its expertise in payments and provide retailers on the Bizom network with virtual card application that will facilitate frictionless payments and easy reconciliation.

Vikas Varma, chief operating officer, South Asia, Mastercard, said, “Rapid evolution of the retail sector has necessitated digital adoption by small businesses to derive benefits like operational efficiency and business growth. With this collaboration between Mastercard and Bizom, micro retailers and distributors will embark on a journey of digitization that helps them get online, get paid and get access to capital.”

He added, “No one organization can solve for the existing credit gap alone. So, it is imperative that we build ecosystem partnerships to bridge this gap. Through this partnership, Mastercard plans to bring together various stakeholders in the industry ecosystem from both the demand and supply side on a common platform to support small businesses.”

Sharing his optimism on the partnership, Lalit Bhise, CEO of Bizom, said, "We are excited to pave the way for the millions of MSME businesses like retailers, distributors, wholesalers and small manufacturers in Bizom’s network to gain access to formal digital financial products. Through this partnership with Mastercard, Bizom's digital trade credit service will extend instant financial support to these small entrepreneurs, helping them grow faster."

Mastercard announced a global commitment to bring a total of one billion people and 50 million micro and small businesses, including 25 million female entrepreneurs into the digital economy by 2025. Mastercard continually works with partners and merchants across the country to drive acceptance and till date, Mastercard has been able to drive acceptance at over 13 million merchant locations in India.