Mastercard is heading into the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) battlefield, but those expecting a direct challenge from market leaders like Afterpay and Zip may be disappointed.

Instead, the payment processing company is choosing to launch a program that promises to help banks, lenders, fintech companies and wallets launch their own bespoke BNPL offerings through Mastercard’s payment processing infrastructure.

Lenders will have a number of different installment options to choose from, including zero percent interest and paying in four. Mastercard said it will even allow retailers to add a surcharge.

Essentially, the program will allow both traditional banks and more cutting-edge players in the fintech and digital wallet space to design and deploy their own BNPL products and services at scale.

Mastercard Installments will initially launch in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom before expanding elsewhere.

Commenting on the news, Mastercard Australia president Richard Wormald said Australians have always valued greater choice, security and convenience in the way they pay, “so it’s no surprise the country has been at the forefront of innovation of BNPL.’

He said Mastercard Installments builds on these foundations by enabling local banks, lenders, fintech companies and merchants to customize their own BNPL model and provide customers with new ways to pay both in-store and online.

Unlike many existing BNPL solutions, Mastercard installments have two key advantages.

The first is scale. Because it’s built on top of the credit card giant’s existing payment processing infrastructure, it will be supported wherever Mastercard already is. Mastercard won’t have to win over merchants when it comes to adding another payment method because they probably already support it.

The other benefit that Mastercard promises that will differentiate Mastercard’s contributions from the rest of the BNPL stable is the emphasis on security.

“Mastercard’s contributions are built on our guiding principles of protecting consumers and providing choice without sacrificing trust and security,” said Mastercard CPO Craig Vosburgh.

Mr Vosburgh said the program builds on Mastercard’s previous investments in open banking.

“At its core, payments are about choice – and people want more for their money, with more flexibility and control over how they pay and where they shop,” he said.

Full details of how Mastercard contributions will work are expected to arrive in 2022.