Mastercard: Greater Visibility into Commodity Supply Chains

By Oliver Freeman
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Mastercard and GrainChain have come together to create a new level of transparency across commodity supply chains through blockchain technology...

On the 29th October, Mastercard announced a new collaboration with GrainChain, a technology company that enables supply chain visibility, empowering suppliers and farmers while reducing risks to buyers and banks in the United States, Mexico and Central America. 

Through the use of Mastercard’s award-winning proprietary and industry-agnostic blockchain technology, the two companies can, with collaboration, create secure digital records of commodity data, using blockchain technology-powered immutable ledgers. This move will mark Mastercard Provenance Solution’s entry into the Central American market. 

Greater complexity and lack of visibility across global supply chains have made it increasingly difficult for brands to uphold standards and protect their reputations. Together with GrainChain, Mastercard Provenance Solution delivers end-to-end visibility throughout the supply chain, allowing participants to forensically track commodities, from the initial inputs and raw materials to harvesting and processing to logistics and delivery to the consumer’s hands. Doing so enables brands and producers to proactively protect consumers and manage their brand reputation, business efficiencies and bottom line.

“The traceability market is a global industry, and the digital identity of products and goods is even more critical today as consumers, brands and governments demand to know where products and services are from,” said Deborah Barta, Senior Vice President of Innovation and Startup Engagement. “With Mastercard Provenance Solution, we’re focused on helping parties benefit from reliable data, which brings efficiencies throughout supply chains, ultimately helping to protect consumers. With our first partnership in Central America, the collaboration with GrainChain demonstrates our ability to scale globally and transform supply chains across new industries."

"We're levelling the playing field for the hard-working producers in North America and Latin America, giving them much more power and control over the process of producing and selling,” said Luis Macias, CEO and Founder of GrainChain. “Small suppliers in countries around the world suffer from a lack of reliable real-time information and deserve transparency, accountability and profitability with streamlined global trade. Through our new partnership with Mastercard, we are providing an unparalleled level of efficiency, reliability, transparency, and security to the entire commodity supply chain.”

Building a Global Network of Trust

As one of the top blockchain patent filers and holders in the financial services industry, Mastercard is committed to convening partners and stakeholders in the commerce ecosystem to support their businesses and customers. Mastercard has filed several patent applications covering key elements of its Mastercard Provenance Solution. By using our permissioned blockchain and combining partner blockchain technologies with Mastercard assets, we’re able to drive visibility into product journeys and provide a clear record of traceability designed to contribute to consumer confidence, trust and awareness across a wide variety of industries, including food, cosmetics, electronics, logistics, retail, and more.

About Mastercard

Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments, and businesses realise their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.  

About GrainChain

GrainChain was founded with the goal of solving the biggest problems facing global supply chains, such as the way commodities are verified and exchanged. Our innovative blockchain and IoT-based suite of products encompasses all participants in the supply chain and allows producers, buyers, storage operators, and lien holders to accurately, efficiently and reliably track commodities from field to market. GrainChain has recently expanded its operations into Central America, and through this partnership, plans to expand to the rest of Latin America soon.

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