MasterCard advances on mobile commerce plans
MasterCard is taking another step in its plans to dominate the mobile commerce market. The company has launched its new MasterPass service, which allows consumers to use any payment card or mobile device to conduct mobile commerce. MasterCard has been showing strong interest in mobile commerce because of the growing proliferation of smartphones and tablets. As these devices become more common among consumers, they are causing a shift in the way people shop and pay for products. These consumers have come to favor their mobile devices for many things, and MasterCard is working to ensure that it has a strong foothold in the mobile commerce market.
MasterPass helps make mobile commerce more universal
The MasterPass is a digital platform that enables mobile payments using a payment card offered by any financial institution. MasterCard has chosen to support the cards from its competitors with the digital service in order to make the MasterPass universally attractive to consumers. The MasterPass will act as a form of digital wallet, storing the financial data of a consumer so it can be easily access whenever they want to sue it.
Service to support NFC technology
The MasterPass will be compatible with NFC technology, allowing merchants to make use of the service at point-of-sale. This will allow those with NFC-enabled mobile devices to make use of the service more efficiently. NFC technology has been losing its foothold in the realm of mobile commerce, however, as concerns regarding the technology’s security continue to spread. MasterCard believes that NFC technology could be very useful to merchants that want to participate in mobile commerce, but not necessarily ideal for some consumers.
MasterPass may compete with PayPal service
The MasterPass services comes on the heels of news that PayPal is making its online payment gateway available to merchants through a dedicated smartphone application. This application makes use of facial recognition software that is meant to identify the consumer in order to validate purchases. The MasterPass is not equipped with such technology, but MasterCard suggests that the service is secure for the purposes of mobile commerce.