Mastercard and the Medical Tourism Association partner to transform cross-border healthcare payments

Mastercard and the Medical Tourism Association partner to transform cross-border healthcare payments Mastercard and the Medical Tourism Association partner to transform cross-border healthcare payments https://innews.az/en/news/id-35254

The Medical Tourism Association is set to introduce a comprehensive platform featuring Mastercard payment capabilities, designed to enhance convenience, flexibility, and trust in the medical tourism sector.

In response to the growing demand for easier access to global healthcare for medical tourists, Mastercard and the Medical Tourism Association (MTA) have announced a unique partnership aimed at modernizing the entire healthcare experience for patients and providers worldwide. The MTA will leverage Mastercard’s commercial card technology, extending its services beyond just coordinating treatments to facilitating swift and secure payments with healthcare providers.

This initiative marks a groundbreaking advancement for the medical tourism industry, which has traditionally relied on cash and wire transfers, resulting in limited financial transparency and fewer payment options for individuals seeking treatment abroad. According to a recent Medical Tourism Patient Survey, over half of the global patients expressed concerns about international payments, citing hidden fees, exchange rate issues, and higher fraud risks, highlighting the need for an improved payment system.

“As a global technology leader, we are continually innovating to address pain points across various industries and streamline the movement of money between people and businesses,” said Chad Wallace, global head of Commercial Solutions at Mastercard. “By integrating our technologies, we’re driving safer and faster payment experiences on a larger scale, and this collaboration allows us to further expand the benefits of Mastercard cards to reshape the healthcare ecosystem.”

Patients will soon be able to book and pay for their treatments using their preferred payment method, with the MTA handling the rest by utilizing Mastercard’s   card technology. Once a payment is initiated and confirmed, the MTA’s banking partner will issue a Mastercard   card to pay the healthcare provider directly. The introduction of cards offers numerous advantages to providers, including enhanced security, stronger controls, and real-time remittance data for more efficient reconciliation.

To further address challenges in healthcare payments, the MTA is developing "Better by MTA," a new user-friendly platform integrated with Mastercard’s payment capabilities, designed to bring together medical and travel services. This platform will enable medical tourists to manage every aspect of their journey—from paying for and scheduling procedures to booking travel, transportation, and accommodations—within a single platform. "Better by MTA" is set to simplify travel decisions, streamline the payment process, and allow users to easily compare care options, replacing multiple booking tools with a seamless, all-in-one experience for medical travel needs.

“For nearly two decades, we have been pivotal in providing affordable, transparent, and high-quality healthcare by connecting patients with a global network of trusted, accredited providers,” said Jonathan Edelheit, chairman and co-founder of the Medical Tourism Association. “Creating a unified interface with integrated Mastercard payment capabilities and services is a crucial step toward our mission of making quality healthcare secure and accessible across borders.”

Mastercard and the MTA are initially rolling out these new payment capabilities with several healthcare providers globally, with plans to expand to more providers worldwide by the end of 2024.

Interesting results from the research:

- Approximately 97.2% of medical tourists consider "trust" to be an important or priority factor in their decision.

- 71% of respondents confirmed whether their healthcare provider had an internationally recognized accreditation, highlighting the critical role of such accreditations in influencing patient confidence and decision-making.

- 53.8% of respondents expressed concern about follow-up care after treatment. This highlights the importance of continuing patient care after the initial medical intervention.

- Financial transparency and security in the decision-making process are important, with 34.6% of respondents concerned about hidden or additional costs and 26.9% concerned about international payment fraud.

- Another 28.1% of potential medical tourists are concerned about payment security, and 21.3% report great difficulty in transferring funds.