Creating a World Beyond Cash

Q: What is Mastercard doing to redesign the global and Mexican digital economy?

A: Our goal is to create a world beyond cash, where everyone is free to make any transaction safely, quickly and efficiently. To achieve this, we continuously build technological and innovative solutions to create an ecosystem of digital payments where people can complete seamless transactions through e-commerce or in person using cards, smartphones or wearables, boosting access to financial products and services.

Mexico’s main advantages include the size of its market and the rapid development of digitalization. We have been able to introduce innovative financial products, such as contactless transactions. We recently allied with the Ministry of Mobility of Mexico City (SEMOVI) so payments on Lines 1, 2 and 3 of Mexico City’s Metrobus can be done quickly and without cash, pushing users to adapt to a digital economy. Our latest launch, Click to Pay, is another safe and hassle-free online payment method that helps reduce the number of passwords and steps required when shopping online, while protecting user data. As a high-tech global company in the payment ecosystem, we are constantly evolving to lead this transformation.

Q: What does the future of contactless payments and Mastercard’s biometrics payment solutions look like?

A: We believe that the scope of these technologies is promising, since one out of every three transactions will be contactless in the next few years. Mastercard’s New Payments Index 2022 found that 3 out of 4 Latin Americans believe that biometric solutions (fingerprints or palm prints and voice or facial recognition) are more secure than a PIN, password or other forms of identification. Also, 68 percent of consumers in the region consider it easier to make payments through biometrics than through a card or device.

With that in mind, our contactless and biometric payments programs are setting the standards for new ways to pay at stores of all sizes, from major retailers to SMEs, because we know that the way we pay needs to keep pace with the way we live, work and do business. With these services, we have confirmed that consumers will continue to seek cleaner, safer and convenient payment methods, giving us the opportunity to be a key player in the industry’s transformation.

Q: What impact does Mastercard’s continuous partnerships and alliances with large retailers and service providers have on financial inclusion?

A: At Mastercard, we are convinced that the entry of new players into the market offers disruptive business models that encourage innovation in financial products and services. Through our alliances, we actively participate in the construction and delivery of digital solutions that respond to consumers´ expectations: pay anytime, anywhere and with any device.

Once again, Click to Pay is an excellent example of this. Thousands of businesses that have partnered with Mastercard are now offering a unique shopping experience that facilitates access to a digital ecosystem while increasing the confidence of users in these intelligent solutions. By reinforcing and building scalable solutions, we can help unlock potential and build pathways to a more secure and inclusive future for all.

Q: What is Mastercard doing for SMEs and large companies?

A: In the last two years, we signed over 30 alliances with digital companies that are now entering the world of digital financial services, while we are working to provide training and digitalize the economy for entrepreneurs and small business owners to boost equity and impact their economic health.

For example, we will launch our Strive Program in the Mexican market in December. This initiative will support 400,000 SMEs in the next three years by providing tools designed to help small businesses navigate through digital transformation, strengthen the entrepreneurship support ecosystem in the country and provide focused assistance to female entrepreneurs.

We leverage our network, technology and experience to help big companies and SMEs prepare for a digital future and thrive. 

Q: What is Mastercard’s digital security approach and strategies to improve digital payments?

A: Transaction security is part of our DNA. Therefore, we are constantly working to reduce the risk of fraud by using technological tools. These include tokenization, which replaces the actual card number with a token or code so the merchant never has access to it: identity check to reduce fraud, false rejections and unnecessary friction and is used when the card is not physically present, using two-factor biometric authentication (fingerprints or facial recognition) and passwords delivered by SMS; decision intelligence which evaluates consumer patterns and transaction attributes, such as IP address, device ID, email address and phone number.; and new platforms, such as NuData, Brighterion, Ethoca or RiskRecon, to provide solutions for identity validation, artificial intelligence and chargeback prevention.

Q: What are Mastercard’s main strategies for the near term?

A: As we look toward the future, Mastercard is increasing its focus on new use cases and moving to payment-adjacent networks like open data exchanges and digital identity, given the synergies of our core network capabilities. Crypto continues to be of significant interest to us with a key role to play in bridging the gap between the benefits of Web3 technology and the existing financial services infrastructure.

From payments to moving beyond identity, crypto and account-to-account (A2A) banking, we believe technology will help us further drive digitization for consumers while ensuring the safety and security of the transactions. Most of these actions need to be driven through partnerships and collaboration across all members of the ecosystem.

Mastercard is a US multinational that offers physical and digital payment solutions to support consumers, SMEs, large companies and governments.