Mastercard, the payments giant, has granted a Principal Licence to MuchBetter, the payments innovator, for card issuing services in the UK, with the ability to extend its offering in Israel, as regulatory approval has also been secured.
With the new licence, MuchBetter will now have access to the Mastercard network. This will accelerate its growth in both the UK and Israel, while also broadening its Cards-as-a-Service (CaaS) proposition as it will no longer rely on intermediary sponsors to issue cards.
The licence will grant MuchBetter the ability to unlock faster go-to-market timelines for its clients, reduce operational overheads and enable the company to apply with Mastercard to sponsor third-party programmes, significantly increasing its strategic flexibility and competitive edge.
Gary Hill, chief information officer at MuchBetter, commented: “Becoming a Principal Customer of Mastercard is a key milestone for MuchBetter. It gives us the autonomy and flexibility to accelerate our card strategy in the UK and Israel – two important markets for our business. This licence unlocks new commercial opportunities and enhances our ability to deliver fast, secure, and cost-effective payment solutions for our partners and their end users.”
Successful expansion
The licence, granted to MIR Limited UK Ltd (part of the MuchBetter group), also extends to cover operations in Israel, where the company is actively exploring new programme partnerships and product deployments. This marks a key development in MuchBetter’s international expansion plans, particularly as it deepens its footprint in high-growth, innovation-led markets.
Leaping from one milestone to the next
The licence from Mastercard is the latest achievement in a long line of successes, MuchBetter has experienced as of late. Only last month, the firm announced MuchBetter Business (MBB) – a business account offering powered by Temenos’ cloud-native core banking platform.
Backed by tier-one safeguarding with NatWest and direct SWIFT membership, the MBB platform delivers operational and safeguarding accounts in 35 currencies, supporting UK, EU, and international payment rails, real-time FX execution, and biometric digital onboarding.
With the new licence, MuchBetter is growing its B2B suite, adding to its already successful product ecosystem, which includes:
- MuchBetter Wallet, enables consumers to store, spend, and send funds securely across multiple currencies and devices.
- Wearable payments, allow users to make contactless transactions via branded devices such as key fobs, watches, and wristbands.
- Corporate cards, provide businesses with seamless expense management tools and secure card-based payment options.
- MB Gateway, a high-performance payments infrastructure layer for B2B and white-label payment processing.
- Cards-as-a-Service (CaaS), which now benefits from direct issuing capability across the UK and Israel.
With its Principal Mastercard licence in place, MuchBetter is poised to launch new CaaS programmes and issuing partnerships in the months ahead, helping fintechs, platforms, and enterprises go live with branded card products faster, with full regulatory coverage and a customisable infrastructure behind the scenes.
