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March 23, 2023

On the web

Mastercard Send™ Will Soon be Available for Checkout.com Customers in Australia, Hong Kong SAR

IBS Intelligence

Checkout.com, a global payments solutions provider, and Mastercard announced that they will make Mastercard Send™ available to more Checkout.com customers in the Asia Pacific region, starting in Australia and Hong Kong SAR later this year. The Send™ service which powers real-time payments for consumers, gig workers, content creators and organizations of all sizes, wherever they interact worldwide is already available in Singapore.

March 20, 2023

On the web

Mastercard Pilots Digital ID Service for Online Shopping

Power Retail

"Mastercard has developed a new pilot service with Service NSW and alcohol delivery service Tipple to protect customers identity information and ensure age verification with the purchase of age restricted goods online. This move comes as Mastercard makes more moves in the virtual commerce industry and grows its presence in the metaverse."

Mastercard Strengthens Customer Security with New AI ‘Cyber Shield’

Mastercard

"Mastercard today acquired cloud-based cybersecurity company Baffin Bay Networks to better help businesses deal with the increasingly challenging nature of cyber-attacks. Baffin Bay Networks, based in Sweden, adds to Mastercard’s multi-layered approach to cyber security and helps to stop attacks, while mitigating exposure to risk across the ecosystem. The acquisition further strengthens Mastercard’s broader services offerings and value beyond the payment transaction."

March 17, 2023

On the web

Mastercard Charts a Path to Becoming the Metaverse’s Default Payment Processor

Digiday

The economy of the metaverse is growing, but many netizens still find purchasing virtual items there to be a headache. Through two recent partnerships, Mastercard hopes to address these issues — and set itself up as the default payment processor of the virtual world. Specifically, the partnerships are with Xsolla, a video game commerce company, and Immersve, a web3 payment platform. The purpose of the first of the two partnerships is to allow Mastercard customers to use their reward points for in-game purchases, as well as to send in-game currency to friends and family. The second is intended to allow consumers to spend cryptocurrency directly from their web3 wallets wherever Mastercard is accepted.

On the wires

Visa, MasterCard $5.6 Billion Settlement with Retailers is Upheld

Reuters

"A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a $5.6 billion antitrust class-action settlement with more than 12 million retailers that accused Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc of improperly fixing credit and debit card fees. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected claims that a class action should not have been certified because of confusion over who deserved compensation, and that the $523 million of legal fees awarded to the retailers' lawyers was too high."

Collaboration of MasterCard, Visa, and PayPal, among others, Expected to Result in a Massive 18.15% Growth for In-Vehicle Payments Market Between 2022-2031

PR Newswire

"BIS Research, the global leader in providing market intelligence on deep technologies, has released its latest study titled In-Vehicle Payments Market - A Global and Regional Analysis. According to this study, the recent surge in the adoption of in-vehicle payment services across developed economies and their growing global awareness is shifting automakers' focus to equip their upcoming models with the in-vehicle payment system. A prominent example of this is that well-known automakers, including Honda, General Motors, Mercedes, and others, have already begun to offer payment services in recent years."

March 16, 2023

On the web

Mastercard Certified in the UK as a Trusted Provider of Digital ID Services

Mastercard

"Mastercard has been certified under the United Kingdom’s Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF) as an identity provider. Mastercard can now offer ID, its digital identity service, to organisations in the UK. Mastercard’s ID app, which is available at the major mobile app stores, gives consumers more choice in how they prove their identity whether they’re starting a new job, making a purchase, renting a flat, or applying to university."

March 15, 2023

On the web

Checkout.com to Power Instant Money Transfers in Australia, Hong Kong SAR and Singapore via Mastercard Send™

Mastercard

"Checkout.com, the global payments solutions provider, and Mastercard today announced that they will make Mastercard Send™ available to more Checkout.com customers in the Asia Pacific region, starting in Australia and Hong Kong SAR later this year. The Send™ service – which powers real-time payments1 for consumers, gig workers, content creators and organizations of all sizes, wherever they interact worldwide – is already available in Singapore."

Dynamic Yield Launches Element, Bringing the Power of Mastercard to Personalization

Mastercard

"Mastercard’s proprietary prediction models and aggregated consumer spend insights activate new ways for customers to enhance personalization across digital channels as part of the company’s Experience OS. Dynamic Yield, a Mastercard company, today unveiled Element, an exclusive suite of Mastercard applications and extensions integrated into Dynamic Yield’s Experience OS. As consumer demand for personalization continues to grow, brands must differentiate their approach to providing relevant experiences at scale."

March 9, 2023

On the web

Amex, Mastercard, Visa Pause Work on New Firearms Merchant Code

Reuters

Top payment networks including American Express Co , Mastercard Inc and Visa Inc said on Thursday they have paused work on implementing a new sales code for gun merchants, citing Republican pushback in various U.S. states on concerns about improper tracking of consumer behavior. The Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved the new merchant category code (MCC) in September to help detect suspicious firearms and ammunition sales to combat gun violence. Bills in several Republican-led states would bar or limit the use of the voluntary code.

DTB and Mastercard Sign Agreement to Boost Payment Solutions for Fintechs in Kenya

Middle East/Africa Hub

"Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) and global technology company Mastercard today announced a strategic agreement that will enable the bank to provide payment cards to tech-enabled companies including fintechs in Kenya. The Agreement, a first of its kind in the region, will enable tech-enabled companies to issue their own card propositions through DTB, using Mastercard’s technology. The agreement will enable DTB to process and settle payments in a faster, more convenient, cost effective and regulated way as it works to increase its footprint in the region."

March 7, 2023

On the web

January 30, 2023

On the web

On the wires

Mastercard, Binance Launching Prepaid Card in Brazil

Reuters

Mastercard Inc and Binance said on Monday they are lauching a prepaid card in Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, as part of the crypto giant's efforts to "broaden the connection between traditional finance and crypto". According to a statement, the so-called Binance Card is currently in beta testing and should be widely available in the next few weeks, making Brazil the second country in Latin America to receive it after Argentina.

January 27, 2023

On the wires

Visa, Mastercard Pin Hopes on China Reopening as Travel Boom Fades

Reuters

Mastercard Inc  and Visa Inc will rely on China reopening to give travel spending a boost, Wall Street analysts said, as the pace of growth in other parts of the world eases from a post-pandemic boom. Executives at the payments companies on Thursday pointed to further room for travel recovery in China, which earlier this month reopened its borders after dropping its stringent COVID-19 control measures.

January 26, 2023

On the wires

Ubirider and Mastercard Partner to Provide Mobility-as-a-Service Solutions for Transit Operators Globally

PR Newswire

Mastercard and Ubirider, Portugal-based makers of the mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) platform Pick designed to serve riders, transport operators and cities, have entered into an agreement to jointly offer Innovative digital solutions that combine operational, payment and ticketing resources and data for public transport agencies and operators. Through this partnership, Mastercard and Ubirider will look to expand on the early success of the products in Portugal to simplify access and payments for mobility services.

January 25, 2023

On the web

Mastercard and ZoodPay Join Forces to Launch the First Virtual Installment Card Across EEMEA

ZoodPay

ZoodPay, a leading digital lending platform for e-commerce in the Middle East and Central Asia, has entered into a strategic partnership with Mastercard to launch the first-of-its-kind prepaid virtual installment card in the Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA) region. This collaboration will expand financial and digital inclusion, benefiting the underbanked population and those with no credit data or limited access to finance.

January 19, 2023

On the web

India May Give Visa and Mastercard Access to Its Payments Market

CTM File

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is reportedly drawing up plans to link credit cards issued by Visa and Mastercard to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the country's popular online payments protocol. According to news portal The Morning Context, two industry executives have said that the central bank will decide before April. A decision in favour of the two US companies would mark a distinct change in; as Bloomberg comments: “India’s dealings with American card networks has been frosty.

January 17, 2023

On the wires

upSWOT and Mastercard are Partnering on Open Banking Data Analytics to Deliver Embedded Finance and Underwriting Tools

AP NEWS

When small business owners permission secure access to their financial data via open banking, it opens the door to an expanding set of financial experiences designed to help them better understand and manage their money. One prime example is expanding access to specialized lending products. Another is better financial insights across their business.

January 6, 2023

On the web

Mastercard Launches Web3-Focused Artist Incubator With Polygon

TechCrunch

"Mastercard, one of the biggest financial payments providers in the world, is launching a web3-focused incubator to help artists connect with fans through a new medium, the company shared at CES 2023 on Friday. Mastercard partnered with Polygon, a scaling blockchain built on top of Ethereum, which has been making huge strides in the Web 2.0 ecosystem lately. In the past year, Polygon partnered with a number of other big brands like Starbucks for its Odyssey digital collectible rewards program and Disney for its accelerator program, while also having major clothing brands like Prada and Adidas launch NFT projects through its blockchain."

January 5, 2023

On the web

Why the FTC Isolated Mastercard With Its Pre-Christmas Consent Order

Digital Transactions

“When the Federal Trade Commission announced two days before Christmas it had leveled a preliminary consent order against Mastercard Inc. to correct what the agency saw as roadblocks the card company had erected against routing online debit transactions to competing networks, the move may have surprised at least some observers. The surprise lay not in what the FTC had to say, but in what it omitted: the order left out Visa Inc., Mastercard’s main rival and a company the Commission had identified only two months earlier as a fellow actor in blocking debit routing to other networks.”

December 28, 2022

On the web

The Mastercard Economics Institute’s Economic Outlook for 2023: What the ‘Multi-Speed’ Global Economy Means

Middle East/Africa Hub

“The Mastercard Economics Institute released their annual forecast for the coming year which shows how a new multi-speed global economy will impact growth and consumer spending behavior. A multi-speed global economy means some markets will feel the impact of inflation and rising interest rates more keenly. ‘Economic Outlook 2023’ draws on a multitude of public and proprietary data sets, as well as models that are intended to estimate economic activity across the Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) region.”

December 26, 2022

On the wires

December 23, 2022

On the web

FTC Orders Mastercard to Open Tokens to Rival Debit Networks

American Banker

“Mastercard must provide competing debit networks with the keys needed to convert tokenized card account information — which has been encoded for security purposes — back to the original account number for online transactions, the Federal Trade Commission announced on Friday. The FTC voted 4-0 to issue an administrative complaint and approve a proposed consent order alleging that Mastercard’s practices for e-commerce transactions violate provisions of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act known as the Durbin amendment, the agency said in a press release. (Subscription required)”

December 21, 2022

On the web

Polygon Partners with Hi and Mastercard for the First Personalized NFT Debit Card

The Cryptonomist

“Polygon is partnering with neo-banking app Hi and Mastercard to launch the first personalized NFT debit card. Holders of the new card will be able to spend their crypto and accumulate Spend Rewards of up to 10%. Basically, Polygon wallet holders will be able to personalize their new Mastercard debit card with a favorite image, in the NFT format. Not only that, the card will be able to be used to spend cryptocurrency and fiat at more than 90 million Mastercard merchants scattered around the world.”

December 19, 2022

On the web

Bon Voyage to Foreign Exchange Fees?

Mastercard

“Whenever James Lynn returned home to London from a beach holiday in the Mediterranean, his post-vacation calm would shatter the moment he saw the charges on his bank statement for using his debit card abroad…Travelers have long chafed at these fees, which help cover the costs of processing international payments, and a new wave of challenger banks and startups are finding ways to harness technology to tackle the challenge. That’s how Currensea was born.”

December 15, 2022

On the wires

Rakuten France Launches New Integrated Payment and Cashback Solution, Club R Pay

Businesswire

“Rakuten France has announced the launch of a brand-new integrated payment solution, Club R Pay, becoming the first e-commerce player to offer such a system in marketplaces. A universal integrated payment solution, Club R Pay facilitates purchases for the 12 million members of the Club R loyalty program on over 2,000 sites while they enjoy their Rakuten rewards. This new initiative allows Rakuten to streamline the purchasing process and support its partners in their digitalisation and development…Thanks to strategic partnerships with Mastercard, the global payments network operating across 210 countries and territories, and Marqeta, the global modern card issuing platform who will power single-use virtual cards, Club R Pay provides an additional security guarantee and reduces payment risks.”

December 7, 2022

On the wires

Marqeta Announces Integration with Mastercard Track Instant Pay Virtual Card Solution

Businesswire

“Marqeta, the global modern card issuing platform, today announced that it has integrated Mastercard Track™ Instant Pay, a next-generation virtual card solution that uses machine learning and straight-through processing to enable instant payment of supplier invoices. With Track Instant Pay, Marqeta customers in the U.S. will be able to immediately authorize a payment to suppliers after invoices are received instead of waiting for invoices to be approved manually, freeing up time to focus on growing their businesses instead of administrative tasks. This payment process empowers Marqeta customers to pay invoices more efficiently and access cost savings by avoiding costly check processing fees.”

December 6, 2022

On the web

Why MIT’s Crypto Expert Loves Bear Markets in Tech

Mastercard

“Today, she is one of the world’s foremost experts on digital currencies. But as a PhD candidate in computer science at MIT in the mid-2010s, Neha Narula had little interest in cryptocurrency. Then in late 2015, a friend mentioned how bitcoin was struggling to scale its infrastructure to handle an increasing volume of transactions. Fresh from completing her doctorate and hungry to improve people’s lives, she spotted a golden opportunity. By applying her expertise in distributed systems and databases, Narula could play an important role in improving blockchain technology, ushering in a new phase of money exchange that was faster, easier and, most importantly, more democratic. Within a few months she was back at MIT, immersing herself in researching crypto at the university’s Media Lab. Now she runs the lab’s Digital Currency Initiative, where she and her team tackle the technology’s thorniest challenges, including scalability, security and privacy. The Mastercard Newsroom recently sat down with Narula to learn more about the challenge the crypto ecosystem faces, the potential of central bank-issued digital currencies, and the benefits of bear markets.”

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