SANTO DOMINGO: DP World has partnered with Mastercard to digitise port ecosystem payment flows, aiming to enable cargo owners and small businesses to pay for their freight-related costs more efficiently and remotely, facilitating their ability to participate in global trade.

The programme has been launched through the co-branded Trade Card in the Dominican Republic and will be rolled out in Latin America and then across DP World’s global port operations.

It is hoped that the launch of the port payments digitisation project will accelerate the digital transformation of the global supply chain and support local economies during the current challenging times.

Morten Johansen, Executive Director of DP World Caucedo, said: “This will help SMEs and cargo owners in general in the Dominican Republic to gain better access to the global economy and be an engine of economic growth.

“Our plan is to use the learnings from this pilot project to expand this partnership to other parts of the world.”

The partnership leverages Mastercard’s leading digital payments technology, banking network and SME payments products with DP World’s role as a port and logistics operator to facilitate access of SMEs to global trade.

Besides better access to responsible credit, the project will provide cargo owners and SMEs with a new digital application that allows them to view invoices and make payments electronically, significantly reducing paperwork for port users.

Access to financing and logistics payments solutions is a key challenge for SMEs, when their import and export business creates a time lag between goods being ordered and delivered for sale. SMEs make up around 95% of all firms in Latin America generating two-thirds of all jobs although their participation in global trade as a proportion of the total for Latin America is less than 13%.

This collaboration, which is a world first in the freight industry, is the latest phase in DP World’s diversification strategy from port operator to global trade enabler by extending its core business to play a wider role in the supply chain and enabling a broader range of services and capabilities to owners of cargo and aggregators of demand.

Carlos Menendez, President – Enterprise Partnerships, Mastercard, stated: “By harnessing Mastercard’s recent expertise in building more inclusive local supply chains and combining our expertise in payments, data analytics and global trade facilitation with DP World’s leadership in freight and port operations, together we can advance inclusive trade growth.”