MasterCard and The Heart have announced the establishment of "The Heart Ventures", a startup incubator which, along with the largest corporations, will build new technology companies that provide additional banking services.

"Poland is an important market for MasterCard and an increasingly significant innovation centre in Europe. We are happy that this is where we will be able to develop and implement the latest technologies. Together with The Heart and invited partners, we will build new companies and open global markets to them," said Bartosz Ciołkowski in a communique issued by MasterCard.

The company announced that the first five companies be launched next year in, among other areas, fintech, insurtech and retailtech. The Heart Ventures will work closely with Mastercard Labs, using the latest technologies developed in MasterCard research facilities in 10 locations around the world.

Mastercard is a technology company operating in the global area of payment processing which integrates consumers, financial institutions, sellers, governments and enterprises. It operates in over 210 countries and territories around the world," states the communique.

The Heart is a corporate innovation center from Warsaw. Using technologies created by the startups' ecosystem, it co-creates new businesses and products, in union with large companies.