MasterCard Announces Expansion Of Masterpass Across Devices And Channels
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Masterpass digital wallet capabilities now include in-store payments.
MasterCard has become the first network to deliver omnichannel, all-digital payment service with its new Masterpass feature. By removing digital payment barriers, Masterpass allows customers to show across devices and channels with no digital payment barriers.
Masterpass in-store payments are scheduled to begin in the U.S. later this month, following in Europe and the Middle East/Africa by the end of 2016, and expanding worldwide through the end of next year. Initially, the service will be available on devices running Google's Android mobile operating system; only because Apple doesn’t allow others to access the near-field communications chips on its phones.
“With billions of cardholders across the globe, we are working with our issuers and merchants to ensure that we’re delivering digital payments that support consumer expectations for a familiar and secure payment experience both now and in the future,” said Craig Vosburg, president of North America, MasterCard. “The expansion of Masterpass represents an important evolution of our business. We’re packaging the intelligence and insights generated by digital payment solutions to power a wide range of merchant and consumer experiences.”
Coinciding with the expansion of Masterpass, MasterCard also announced it is updating its brand identity for the first time in 20 years, shifting the "C" in its name from uppercase to lowercase and introducing a simplified, modernized logo.
While e-commerce is on the rise, most shopping—some 95% by some measures—is still being done in stores. Mobile sales were $8.7 billion in the U.S last year, and will likely more than double this year, according to eMarketer, but still represented only a fraction of the $4.8 trillion total U.S. retail sales in 2015. Ubiquity is what's absolutely necessary if mobile payments are going to take off, and that means increased use in physical locations.
Masterpass is currently available at hundreds of thousands of merchants online or in-app including Firehouse Subs, Masabi, MLB.com and MLBShop.com, Office Depot and ParkMobile. Consumers will now be able to use Masterpass at the more than five million merchant locations in 77 countries that accept contactless payments including BJ’s Wholesale Club. Masterpass will be adopted by merchants including JetBlue, Subway app, The Cheesecake Factory app, and Saks.com and Lord and Taylor.com, according to MasterCard, and a number of banks including Ally Bank, Bank of America, BMO Harris Bank, Capital One, Citi and others will also support the service, layering services like tokenization, bank identification, and cardholder verification to help keep consumers safe from fraudulent activity.
“MasterCard is one of those unique brands that is instantly recognizable around the world,” explained Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer, MasterCard. “To thrive in this new digital world where business moves faster than ever, we want to modernize and elevate the brand in a design that is simple and elegant, yet unquestionably MasterCard.”