Redmond (Washington), Jul 28 (IANS): Mastercard and Microsoft on Tuesday announced a collaboration to accelerate innovation across digital commerce and startup ecosystems.

The collaboration will accelerate Mastercard Labs' Cloud native research and development activities, enabled by Azure and AI, and shape the future of digital commerce, drive startup innovation and enable financial inclusion, the companies said in a statement.

"We are thrilled to deepen our longstanding relationship with Microsoft by advancing the research, development and scaling of new technologies and business models," said Ken Moore, executive vice president and head of Mastercard Labs.

"This strategic collaboration will strengthen and extend our cloud services and capabilities for clients and fintech partners, sparking innovation and creativity for the ecosystem"

Through access to Azure technologies, augmented and virtual reality and Internet of Things, fintech partners will be empowered to create new user experiences to advance how consumers, businesses and governments exchange value.

"We look forward to building on our strong relationship and accelerating co-innovation to help connect and power a digital economy for everyone, everywhere," Judson Althoff, executive vice president of Microsoft's Worldwide Commercial Business.

Mastercard's Start Path programme has assisted with the development of over 230 fintech companies worldwide, democratizing access to financial services.

The Azure cloud environment will serve as the native infrastructure for Mastercard Labs' inclusion efforts and support Mastercard Community Pass.