ANNA is a mobile business account, Mastercard debit card and virtual assistant rolled into one aimed at start-ups, freelancers and small businesses.

Launched in 2018, ANNA (Absolutely No Nonsense Admin) “the debit card that meows”, has worked with Mastercard since its inception.

In under two years ANNA has proven that it adds value, becoming an indispensable app that takes care of time-consuming financial admin, handling everything from invoicing to direct debits so customers can focus on doing what they love. Having recently added tax accounting, expense management tools and connected bank accounts, ANNA has upgraded to a Premium Business Debit Mastercard.

Edoardo Volta, Head of Fintech at Mastercard UK and Ireland comments “ANNA has a unique offering for those working in the creative industries, small businesses and freelancers and we have been delighted to have worked with them since their launch. We are looking forward to this extension of our partnership as we continue to drive innovative solutions together to enable ANNA’s customers to continue to find the fun in running their businesses.”

Boris Dyakonov, co-founder of ANNA says, “This strategic relationship illustrates that Mastercard has recognised that ANNA is a fast-growing, successful challenger in the fintech industry. It will give ANNA access to Mastercard’s value-added services, network and knowledge, which will enhance our growth and bring even better services to our customers.”

The next chapter of ANNA’s evolution is for them to become a licensed EMI and Mastercard Principal member and resultantly a direct issuer. ANNA was in the process of migrating from Wirecard Card Solutions UK (WCS), its current issuer and in light of the recent developments at Wirecard, ANNA is focusing on obtaining its own e-money licence. As part of its ongoing growth ambitions, ANNA will ultimately move towards obtaining a full banking licence.

This latest partnership with Mastercard helps position ANNA within the global ecosystem of financial institutions, fulfilling its core aim of supporting small business owners, entrepreneurs and freelancers.