MYOB has collaborated with Mastercard in an Australian-first pilot of AI-driven payment capabilities, exploring how agentic technology can reimagine financial workflows to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) better manage cash flow, reduce admin and make day-to-day bill payments with greater confidence.
Fresh insights from MYOB’s Business Monitor state cash flow is the cause of extreme pressure for more than a quarter (27%) of small business owners and operators. Moreover, ASIC reports 52% of small businesses failures are the result of inadequate cash flow or high cash use*.
The agentic pilot demonstrated how technology can support SMEs with one of the most persistent pressures facing business owners: managing the flow of money while juggling the many competing demands of running a business.
Combining Mastercard’s Agent Pay with MYOB’s intuitive SME platforms, the solution would enable business owners to set rules and controls for which bills to pay, when and via what method. The aim is to reduce the mental load of routine financial decision-making and help businesses stay on top of their obligations while maintaining visibility and control.
Sally Davies, General Manager of Solo and Embedded Payments at MYOB, said small businesses need practical innovation that saves time while supporting better decision-making. MYOB’s goal is to support the Australian SME community in the seamless running of their financial operations.
“Cash flow is king for SMEs, but for many business owners, staying on top of bills and payments happens alongside every other job they do in a day. When you are effectively the CEO, CFO, head of marketing and everything in between, seamless systems that support the flow of money can make a real difference. MYOB wants to take away the pressure of financial management, making it easier to have oversight of this critical part of business operations without the extra effort.
“That is why we are excited to collaborate with Mastercard on this pilot. By combining AI with payments technology and integrating this innovation with our insight-rich business management platform, we can help SMEs make more informed decisions about what to pay, when to pay it and which payment method best suits their needs, keeping them in control.
“This is about taking friction out of financial admin and giving business owners back time and headspace to focus on running and growing their business.”
Surin Fernando, Senior Vice President, Customer Solutions Center, Australasia at Mastercard, adds: “As we move towards more automated ways of doing business, trust and transparency become critical. Mastercard is embedding security, visibility and control into agent-driven payments, helping give small businesses the confidence to adopt these capabilities and better manage their cash flow.”
This experiment reflects a continued focus from MYOB on solving real customer problems through practical innovation. The payments solution would support a broad range of businesses, from sole operators through to larger SMEs.
This work is a continuation of MYOB’s existing relationship with Mastercard and follows the recent launch of Open Banking services to MYOB customers. This next wave of partnership in agentic payments unlocks further ways to support SME success.
MYOB and Mastercard’s agentic payments model remains in testing as the ecosystem required to support agentic payments continues to evolve.
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