EXCLUSIVE— Masterpass, blockchain, and the Internet of Things are three of the largest areas of innovation on which Mastercard will keep its focus, the company said.
This is according to Mastercard’s President and CEO Ajay Banga. Mastercard reported today overall positive results for the third quarter, including net revenue of $1.4 billion.
Banga highlighted on today’s earnings call the company’s Masterpass payment platform and its B2B hub, both areas on which Mastercard will keep a tight focus in the coming quarter to keep up with its innovation momentum.
“We are continuing to invest in Masterpass,” Banga said on the call, naming new companies signed to the platform (including Verizon Wireless), as well as new nations, such as Mexico, which was announced last quarter.
Banga also noted the platform’s full integration with PayPal, where Mastercard is now a “clear and equal partner,” Banga said.
“This involves implementing Masterpass through Braintree to expand acceptance, and enable customers to cash out [PayPal Wallet] balances through Mastercard Send,” he said of the partnership, which is now live for both companies across the globe.
As well as growth in the Masterpass platform, Mastercard is “expanding our research to include IoT,” Banga said on the call, which includes the company’s newest partnerships with wearable companies like Fitbit and Garmin. This despite the current malaise around IoT innovation.
With this new research, Mastercard will be keeping an eye on bettering its cybersecurity, along with regulatory compliance — disciplines “everyone in the industry, even outside of payments” much monitor, Banga said, especially as the usage of connected devices continues to grow around the world.
Further, the company will continue its research on blockchain technology, according to its earnings call, where Banga noted that “whether we in the future work on our own platform, or as a facilitator for others,” the point for Mastercard is “to truly understand how [blockchain] works.”
The company does have a specific use case in mind for the technology, however.
“The initial focus is on the B2B space,” Banga noted on the call, highlighting speed and transparency as blockchain advantages that could B2B payments. “It’s more interesting than looking for a problem in consumer payments that consumers do not perceive.”