When Mastercard fully rolled out its digital wallet last year – into the overcrowded market – it was unclear whether the company would be able reach the adoption goals set out by CEO Ajay Banga.
But it did.
The payment network enabled 80 million accounts at yearend 2016, and added five new markets, which will help “build on this momentum in 2016,” Banga said during the company’s earnings call yesterday.
The services have been rolled out globally with several banks, including Bank of America, Capital One, Citi, Nordea, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. We’ve added roughly 80,000 new merchants [in 4Q], bringing the total to about 340,000 for online and in-app purchases, as well as more than 6 million locations in about 80 countries that allow contactless payments. This quarter, we’re pleased to announce partnerships with Dunkin’ Donuts, Walgreens, Gulf Oil, Wyndham Hotels, and so on.
Of the 80,000 new merchants, more than 10,000 were small-sized and medium-sized, the company said this morning. “Small and medium size businesses play an important role in displacing cash and driving digital payment growth,” Linda Kirkpatrick,VP of merchants and acceptance, said in a statement.
In 2017, Masterpass will continue being the “focus” of the company’s digital investments, Banga said. To him, “Masterpass is not a wallet, it’s a digital strategy.”
In October, Mastercard announced a partnership with Microsoft, Google, and Samsung in order to integrate its Masterpass network with those digital wallets starting in early 2017.
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