Jifiti Selected for Mastercard Start Path to Scale White-Label BNPL
On May 3, 2021, Mastercard announced the selection of six fintech innovators for its Start Path program, with Jifiti among them for its white-label buy now, pay later (BNPL) solution. Jifiti's platform enables banks and lenders to launch branded consumer financing programs without requiring point-of-sale integration, positioning it as a BaaS-style enabler for traditional financial institutions. The Start Path program provides selected fintechs with access to Mastercard's technology, domain expertise, and commercial scaling support over a six-month engagement.
The partnership highlights Mastercard's focus on sustainable lending innovations and the growing demand from banks to embed BNPL capabilities into their product offerings. Jifiti's bank-centric model differentiates it from consumer-facing BNPL brands by keeping the lending relationship with the financial institution. Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.
The collaboration underscores the trend of card networks acting as accelerators for embedded finance startups targeting bank distribution channels.
- Card networks increasingly act as accelerators for BaaS and embedded finance startups, expanding distribution for bank-centric BNPL models
- White-label BNPL platforms that keep lending relationships with banks may gain traction over consumer-branded alternatives as regulatory scrutiny of BNPL grows