MasterCard enters the mobile payments arena
MasterCard has announced a new PayPass Wallet Service to compete with other technology and payment processors with mobile offerings. The initiative consists of a digital wallet, payment acceptance network and interface system with banks, merchants, technology providers and consumers. So far, two major partners have been announced Barnes & Noble and American Airlines.
PayPass Wallet Service program
The PayPass Acceptance Network includes PayPass Online and PayPass Contactless, depending on where the retailer conducts point-of-sale (POS) transactions. PayPass Online, as the name conveys, is intended for ecommerce platforms, enabling customers to enter their payment information once and then use that data for all subsequent purchases.
PayPass Contactless, on the other hand, is for brick-and-mortar retailers. This is the contactless POS payment system that enables merchants to accept payments from near field communication devices, such as smartphones. These stations are integrated into traditional POS terminals and enable consumers who own these devices to use them to complete payments.
The PayPass Wallet is essentially a digital wallet service that any organization, ranging from banks to merchants, can offer consumers under their own brand. This enables companies to bolster shopper awareness by offering trendy payment options with their own name and can be used in conjunction with other credit cards offered by American Express, Discover and Visa.
Cross-platform interaction is pivotal to the success of MasterCard's PayPass initiative, and the Application Programming Interface (API) enables that. "The API allows those participating in the program to connect their digital wallets, enabling customers to make purchases wherever PayPass is accepted – on the web, the mobile web and in-store," the credit card provider explained.
Learning new technologies
Speaking with Internet Retailer, Rick Oglesby – senior analyst at consulting firm Aite Group – was quick to point out that mobile wallets, and by extent, MasterCard's PayPass initiative, represents a paradigm shift in terms of how consumers pay for goods. Shoppers will need to acclimate themselves to the new way of spending money before it truly becomes mainstream.
"Consumers will need to register for the service and learn to recognize it and use it," he told the news source. "If MasterCard achieves a level of critical mass on consumer enrollment, then merchants will definitely accept it. That being said, it is a competitive environment with others offering similar services, so driving consumer enrollment and activation will be key."
