Mastercard has announced a partnership with SumUp aimed at extending payment acceptance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 27 European countries.

The five-year deal will enable micro and SME companies to accept electronic payments via SumUp’s card readers, by card and digital enabled devices such as smartphones, smartwatches or wristbands.

The companies described the move as “another significant step in displacing cash and driving financial inclusion for small European businesses and supporting their entry into the formal economy”.

The partnership comes after SumUp raised €330 million in its latest funding round to grow its network of merchants across 31 markets worldwide.

Jason Lane, executive vice president of market development at Mastercard Europe, said: “The scale and breadth of this partnership will significantly advance electronic payments acceptance in Europe.”

The deal is aimed at helping small business overcome the pitfalls of cash payments, including security, transportation costs, laborious counting, reconciliation, fraud and counterfeit notes.

Marcel Schneider, chief commercial officer at SumUp, said: “There is a card acceptance gap that exists due to smaller businesses historically not being well-served by traditional payment providers.

“10 per cent of any population should be able to accept card payments but only around one per cent does – it’s this gap that SumUp and Mastercard are looking to fill through the partnership.”

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