Mastercard Brings Its Small Business Navigator to Canada
After launching in the U.S., Mastercard’s Small Business Navigator is heading north.
The suite of resources for things like cost savings and cybersecurity is now available in Canada, the company said in a Wednesday (Oct. 1) news release, noting more than half of that country’s small business owners say it’s tough to find reliable versions of these tools in one place.
“Entrepreneurs often lack access to the formal financial tools they need to manage cash flow, plan for the long term, and achieve sustainable growth,” John Kiru, executive director of Digital Main Street, an Ontario-based organization that helps businesses achieve digital transformation, said in the release.
“That’s why programs like Mastercard Small Business Navigator are so exciting—they empower business owners to take control of their financial futures, build confidence, and make informed decisions that drive lasting success.”
According to the release, the navigator offers small businesses resources such as economic trend reports from the Mastercard Economics Institute and Mastercard SpendingPulse to keep entrepreneurs apprised of market developments.
It also offers cybersecurity resources to educate small business owners on fending off emerging threats, as well as offers from “Mastercard and its partners to drive cost savings in key areas such as tax services, payments acceptance and operations,” the release added.
The company introduced the navigator program in the U.S. in May.
PYMNTS wrote earlier this year on the relationships between credit card companies and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), which consider cards “both an essential tool and a persistent frustration.”
Research from the report “SMB Growth Monitor Report: How Firms Use and Choose Credit Cards,” shows a systemic misalignment between what credit cards offer and what many industry-specific SMBs truly need.
“Despite many credit card options, SMBs say they’d spend more if cards offered features tailored to their industry,” PYMNTS wrote in August.
“Construction firms want automation; salons want fraud protection; retailers want perks. Yet most card programs treat them the same. These are not businesses that lack credit, but businesses underserved by the blunt instruments of generalized financial products.”
The report also explored the extent to which SMBs combine personal and business credit use, something that applies to 54% of surveyed businesses.
“For these SMBs, credit cards are not just financing tools but stopgap solutions in a financial system not yet optimized for their needs,” PYMNTS wrote. “While flexibility is valued, this hybrid credit usage reveals a market inefficiency: Traditional business credit offerings are simply not compelling or comprehensive enough to stand on their own.”
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