Consumers are expressing interest in and enthusiasm for emerging payment methods in their social media conversations, according to a new report. Mastercard’s fifth annual Digital Payments Study analyzed more than 3.5 million public interactions in 2016 between consumers on social media channels—including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter—to glean insight about consumer attitudes toward new payment technologies worldwide.
Mastercard and Poste Italiane have struck a new deal under which the Italian postal service’s Postepay app has integrated Masterpass to enable users to make mobile purchases—a deal the companies hope will appeal to Postepay’s large base of younger users.
Bots, biometrics and wristbands stood out as examples of payments innovation this week at the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Judging by the product releases and displays, the future promises to involve more use of fingerprints in payments, and technology that allows quick purchasing from social media.
Mastercard and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in Singapore have teamed up to launch a pilot program enabling commuters to pay for transit fares using contactless payment cards through an account-based ticketing (ABT) system. Although the tap-and-go pilot hasn’t begun yet, the next step of enabling consumers to use mobile wallets and wearables already is in the works.
Mastercard significantly will expand the scope and capabilities of its Qkr with Masterpass mobile payment service, the network said Feb. 27. Not only is the technology set to debut in the U.S. and five other countries, but it will now integrate with retail software provider Oracle.
In a Feb. 16 field hearing, the CFPB said it wants industry input on using alternative data to help thin- or no-file consumers build credit scores. It’s a challenge that many in the prepaid industry have been trying to solve for years to better serve cardholders who often are among the approximately 26 million U.S. consumers who don’t have a credit history and another 19 million consumers whose credit histories are insufficient to produce a credit score, according to CFPB estimates.
The CFPB is “putting the prepaid industry on notice that companies will face the consequences if consumers are denied access to their money or to the services they pay for and on which they have the right to depend.” In its first enforcement action against prepaid providers, the bureau on Feb. 1 announced that UniRush and Mastercard will pay a combined $13 million for a 2015 service disruption that left cardholders without access to their funds.
Mastercard can put a notch in the win column after a High Court judge ruled in the payment card network’s favor regarding a lawsuit brought on by retailers disputing cross-border interchange fees on debit and credit cards.
Paybefore’s first-ever payments year-in-review report, sponsored by The Bancorp, is available now. Offering an in-depth look at key trends and the Top 10 payments stories from 2016 that will continue to shape the industry in 2017 and beyond, this must-have resource examines everything influencing the industry from the CFPB and Uber to Brexit and Trump and much more.
More than 138 million Europeans do not have access to formal banking services, says Mastercard in a new report—news that could present an opportunity to prepaid providers and so-called “challenger banks.”
Mastercard and Cardlytics have formed a new partnership that will streamline the process for banks implementing Cardlytics’ card-linked marketing offers, and ensure that consumers can access offers online and via mobile devices.
