Mastercards and Medical Tourism Association (MTA) have initiated a new partnership to facilitate access to global health services and modernize experiences for patients and healthcare providers. As part of the project, MTA will regulate treatment processes and provide fast and secure payment options for healthcare providers using Mastercard’s technology.
Global payment technology company Mastercard and Medical Tourism Association (MTA) have started a collaboration to improve and expedite healthcare treatment and payment experiences for patients and healthcare providers. In the partnership between the two institutions, MTA will regulate treatment processes and provide fast and secure payment options for healthcare providers using Mastercard’s technology.
RISKS IN THE PAYMENT PROCESS WILL BE MINIMIZED
According to a study conducted by MTA, over half of patients worldwide are concerned about international payments due to hidden costs, exchange rate complexities, and increased fraud risk. With the aim of improving the payment process, MTA has partnered with Mastercard to continue efforts to make healthcare payments easier, safer, and simpler.
Avşar Gürdal, General Manager of Mastercard for Turkey and Azerbaijan, stated, “At Mastercard, we constantly form new partnerships and develop innovative products and services to make payment processes safer and easier in all areas. With this latest collaboration, patients will be able to pay for their treatments easily and confidently, with all processes in the background being managed by MTA using Mastercard’s card technology.”
MTA’s new medical tourism platform, Better by MTA, is being developed in partnership with Mastercard. This platform allows every step of medical tourism, from travel planning to medical procedure payments, to be carried out under the guarantee of MTA and Mastercard. Better by MTA aims to simplify travel options, expedite the payment process, and make it easier to compare care options.
Jonathan Edelheit, Co-founder and President of MTA, stated, “For nearly twenty years, we have played a critical role in the industry by connecting patients with affordable, transparent, and high-quality healthcare services from reliable and accredited providers worldwide. Developing a single interface integrated with Mastercard’s payment capabilities and services is a significant step towards making high-quality healthcare services across borders safe and accessible.”
Johan W. F. de Letter, Director of Memorial Hospitals Group Europe/USA, commented, “Medical tourism is one of Turkey’s fastest-growing industries, showing a growth rate of 22.6% annually. We are delighted to be one of the first hospitals to accept Mastercard virtual cards for these payments as the demand for our services from abroad increases. The transition from cash payments to digital payments will increase efficiency for our finance teams and provide payment security uniquely.”
Mastercard and MTA plan to launch these new payment capabilities with a variety of healthcare providers worldwide and expand to more providers by the end of 2024.
### Interesting results from the study:
Approximately 97.2% of medical tourists consider ‘trust’ to be an important or priority factor in their decision-making.
71% of participants confirming whether healthcare providers have internationally recognized accreditation highlights the critical role these accreditations play in patient trust and decision-making.
53.8% of participants expressed concerns about post-treatment follow-up, emphasizing the importance of continuous patient care even after primary medical intervention.
34.6% of participants fear hidden or additional costs, while 26.9% are worried about international payment fraud, underscoring the importance of financial transparency and security in the decision-making process.
28.1% of potential medical tourists are concerned about payment security, and 21.3% have experienced significant difficulties in fund transfers.
