That's the MasterCard plan to no longer be a simple credit card

Mastercard is moving away more and more from its historical image as a benchmark for credit cards, to become a brand present in all electronic and digital payments; both those that now exist and those that will come in the future.

This is the strategy that the company has followed in recent years and that This was demonstrated at the latest edition of the 2018 MasterCard Innovation Forum, which takes place this week in Miami and brings together 1,300 participants from all over Latin America.

Society advances on all possible fronts and adapts to the reality of each country. In Argentina, In addition to being the Mercado Pago card issued by Banco Patagonia, which allows to buy the Mercado Libre in six interest-free installments, it is also the origin of Fintech Ualá and Clover.

His incursion into the fintech on the local market does not stop there: he sponsors the growth of startups like Aivo, dedicated to artificial intelligence solutions in the markets of finance, consumption and sales by retail; and encourages the use of contactless solutions, today via plastics and, quickly, via the mobile phone.

"Supporting the digitization of payments is a way forward in the adoption of financial tools for inclusion." The new generations are rapidly incorporating these new tools. payment in the Latin American countries where it operates is a sign that the digital option needs to be advanced and that financial technology is the most economical way for new consumers to have the opportunity to be included on the market. financial plan. ", Indicated to iProUP Carlo Enrico, President of Mastercard for Latin America.

Today, 80% of transactions in Latin America are in cash., alternative that the executive considered "dirty, expensive, without possibility of doing trazabilidad and that, in addition, does not include those unbanked".

In this sense, he pointed out that "it is statistically proven that people excluded from the financial system do not contribute to the growth of a country.Therefore, we must find a way to pay for things basic ".

The company, for this reason, It promotes several alternatives so that, through the digital channel, all possible operations are performed, at any time and anywhere. In short, it is a concept identical to that proposed by new digital consumption, such as video streaming or music.

Looking back on what is happening in the area, Enrico warned that 46% of adults are not banked, which implies that "there is a social and economic problem to be solved", and that governments and different industries must improve financial inclusion solutions in which, once again, the digital way is the simplest and most economical way to follow, in addition to the safest way.

Payments for all

As part of the conference, Mastercard has also shown its offer of solutions already available for the various segments in which it operates.

For the trade, he introduced a Virtual Reality (VR) option, which makes it possible to shop online as if it were physical premises.

Another tool presented offers the possibility of simply converting point programs that banks grant with credit card purchases for quick use, without having to consult a catalog or calculate the amount needed to win a prize.

The sending of money between people located in different places, including between countries, as is the case for remittances, was also another alternative to the official event .

The MasterCard Send application allows you to schedule money transfers or transfer a certain amount to an account. So when you have to pay rent or some other service, these funds are already reserved. Always, of course, with the phone as support for these operations.

The issue of security is another point on which greater importance has also been given. Nu Detect, by case, allows to increase the protection measures according to the knowledge of the behavior of the users when they use an application and carry out a transaction, whatever the channel used.

In this regard, Enrico highlighted the digital proposition that Mastercard is facing: "Digital enables inclusion – an example is e-commerce, which is growing much faster than credit card transactions. The online channel allows faster adoption of these tools. "

The phone is the way to achieve that desired inclusion. That's why the company has also given impetus to contactless solutions, which will make daily payments and micropayments much more agile; whether it's a coffee, a pharmacy purchase or the expense of public transportation.

"Around the world, 90% of contactless payments are always by card and only 10% by phone.. There is no doubt that it will evolve and it will turn out. The truth is that this solution facilitates the shopping experience, "said Martin Lang, president of Mastercard Argentina at iProUP.

Place your look on Argentina in this particular segment, we can say that everything is to be done. Until 2017, the use of contactless payments was 0%, according to the data presented at the conference.

Lang argued that this is changing dramatically. "This year, we started by issuing contactless cards and we will end up with 500,000 plastics with this technology, and we already have agreements with almost all banks," he added.

Currently, the global average adoption of contactless solutions is 18.5%, with Canada leading with 51%, followed by Europe with 43% adoption. In Latin America, however, this is only 1.3%. The company expects Argentina to begin to show a rapid evolution in this adoption.

The four key innovations for the future of Mastercard

The company is present in more than 46 million stores worldwide and is a partner of 20,000 banks. Even in this case, it does not rest on its laurels, because the future is undeniably linked to digital.

In recent years, he has initiated a key transformation process. The goal is clear: to lead the advance of digital payments and to consolidate as a major player in a sector that is evolving faster and faster.

Here are some of the proposals in which Mastercard already works:

biometrics

For user authentication, he works on artificial intelligence with biometric settings and experiments with forms of authentication such as fingerprint, facial recognition, voice or even pulse .

tokenization

Another project seeks to replace a primary account number with another number or token. It is estimated that in two years, 150 million devices "portable" (such as smartwatches) will be connected and can pay through this technology. Payments also increase via home automation and connected cars.

Smart cities

Mastercard supports urban mobility with the value proposition of using EMV-standard financial cards in the public transport application. A tool like this one can be paid and at the same time validation and ticket. They have information that allows them to know when and where the demand for services is highest, which allows them to clarify cities and apply them to a breakdown of city services per hour. and by region. much more efficient.

Startups

To stimulate this innovation, Mastercard is promoting the Start Path program, which aims to globally identify startups with the highest potential. Includes two annual series of selection of the most attractive startups. The first of them receives funding of 100,000 euros and enters a mentorship program within the company, where a senior executive advises him on how to run his business and find clients or a funding.

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