Today Mastercard announced that it will be partnering with Microsoft, Google, and Samsung in order to integrate its Masterpass network with those digital wallets — so users of Google Wallet, Android Pay, or Samsung Pay can shop online wherever Masterpass is accepted, starting in early 2017.
“Once the consumer opts in they’ll be able to pay wherever Masterpass is accepted,” says Kiki Del Valle, senior vice president for digital payments and labs at Mastercard, of the way the process will work. “It just so happens that the credentials that will be used will be Samsung’s.”
Users of the digital wallets, like Samsung or Android Pay, will use their secured credentials to make online purchases and transactions at the thousands of merchants who currently accept Masterpss.
Mastercard made the announcement at the Money 2020 conference, happening now in sunny Las Vegas, where 10,000 finance and tech professionals have gathered alongside around 3,000 companies to soak in the latest of fintech innovation.
“We want to bring speed and simplicity to online payments for their U.S. userbase,” says Del Valle of the new partnership. “It should be available early next year, and we strongly believe this is something that will benefit the whole ecosystem.”
Users who opt in to the link will store their credentials using Samsung Pay, but when shopping, they will pay with Masterpass the usual way—by clicking the Masterpass link.
As this links the whole of the Masterpass network—supported at the moment by around 17 banks and accepted by about 250,000 retailers—with Samsung Pay, this definitely could have a profound effect on the world of mobile and digital payments.
Though mobile payments are slowly—very slowly—gaining more popularity with users, online shopping has been widely adopted for years. Maybe linking a platform like Samsung Pay here first will help consumers embrace the concept of a digital wallet, especially when the brand experience is still Mastercard’s.
Stay tuned for more Money 2020 announcements!
To learn more about mobile and online payments, join us in Tel Aviv for Bank Innovation Israel this November 1-3.Register here.