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Mastercard (MA), Verizon Team Up to Enhance Payments Ecosystem

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Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) recently teamed up with Verizon Communications’ (VZ - Free Report) unit Verizon Business in a bid to introduce innovative solutions for reshaping the global payments and commerce ecosystem.

The tie-up will pave the way for integrating extensive network, and cutting-edge solutions and services of Mastercard with Verizon’s transformative 5G technology. Besides rolling out Cloud Point of Sale (POS) solutions, the partnership will lead to technology upgradations resulting in enhanced contactless shopping and autonomous checkout experiences. In a way, both the companies’ platforms strive to link billions of worldwide consumers, businesses, banks and governments with an evolving payments system.

The recent alliance seems to be a win-win situation for both the companies. With the COVID-9 pandemic exposing potential risks of using cash, the usage of mobile wallets for availing contactless payments has gained prominence.

Mastercard looks to capitalize on the prevailing scenario with the recent partnership. The company has integrated its Tap on Phone with Verizon’s technology, which will facilitate conversion of smartphones into portable payment terminals, thereby resulting in touchless consumer experiences.

Mastercard’s robust retail technology solutions combined with Verizon 5G and Mobile Edge Computing will result in faster, seamless and contactless in-store checkout experiences.

Verizon’s customers will benefit from the latest move as well. By utilizing Mastercard’s Bill Pay Exchange, bill payments will be made easier for customers via digital banking channels. This will lead to cost reduction on the part of customers. Besides, Verizon will utilize Ethoca’s technology, which is a Mastercard company, for early detection and addressal of frauds.

The latest move reinforces Mastercard’s endeavor to upgrade the digital payments ecosystem of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The tie-up with Verizon is a testament to the same, which will help both the companies to devise cutting-edge solutions for better equipping SMBs in growing their digital business. In an effort to boost fintech, payments and banking industries, both the partners will utilize near real-time edge computing to decipher Internet of Things (IoT) sensor connectivity.

The recent partnership highlights Mastercard’s continuous efforts to popularize emerging technologies such as 5G and Mobile Edge Computing. The company intends to revolutionize the payments landscape, which in turn will prompt customers to embrace digitization and make it the new way of life. However, online payments necessitate the introduction of effective fraud detection and prevention solutions. Per Cybersecurity Ventures, global cybercrime costs are expected to increase by 15% each year on a year-over-year basis and reach $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. For addressing the situation, Mastercard has an enhanced suite of digital identity services in place.

Time and again, Mastercard has collaborated with several companies across the globe for tapping prospects present in the global contactless payments market. This, in turn, has helped the company in enhancing its capabilities, expanding into the underserved areas and bolster global presence. Per MarketsandMarkets, the global contactless payment market is anticipated to witness a 11.7% CAGR over the 2020-2025 period. The reason behind the growth can be attributed to the ease with which a contactless payment can be conducted with a single tap, which accelerates transactions and reduces costs.

Other companies that have launched innovative solutions to reinforce their global contactless payment market presence include Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) and American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) .

Zacks Rank & Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard, which carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), have gained 25.5% in a year compared with the industry’s growth of 3.6%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Zacks Investment Research
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