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Mastercard (MA) Reaches Asia Pacific With its Send Service

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Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) recently expanded its ties with the renowned payment solutions provider, Checkout.com. The companies teamed up last year to introduce MA’s personal payments service platform - Mastercard Send across Italy.

After extending the multiple benefits of the platform in Europe, Mastercard has decided to further expand its platform’s reach to the Asia Pacific region. Some of the countries in the region that will reap the benefits of Mastercard Send, by virtue of the expanded collaboration, include Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong SAR. While customers of Checkout.com in Singapore can already avail the Send service, the same is expected to roll out in Australia and Hong Kong SAR in later 2023.

The Mastercard Send platform remains the preferred choice for merchants and acquirers owing to the numerous tailwinds that it offers. Instant payout capabilities for fintechs, banks and insurance companies or easing wages payment by gig platforms are some of the benefits of the platform. It also extends a helping hand to merchants and online marketplaces while processing refunds or settlements or to governments for giving tax rebates and subsidies.

A booming digital economy and promising growth opportunities for acquirers in the Asia Pacific region might have promoted Mastercard to unveil Mastercard Send across the region. With the Mastercard Send platform, MA remains well-poised to relieve consumers from challenges inflicted by the use of age-old traditional payment methods that continue to be in use across the globe. Such methods cause delays, are time-consuming and pose threat with regard to the safety of payments.

Mastercard leverages the platform to work closely with digital messaging and payment platforms thus empowering consumers of around 50 markets to use an app for seamless and immediate transfer of funds to other consumers in over 100 markets. Also, issuers have witnessed utilization of the Send Service, which leads to speedy payments, leading to higher average monthly debit card spending. This clearly demonstrates the potential exhibited by the MA platform.

Such platforms are built leveraging the multi-rail payment capabilities of Mastercard and aim to offer increased speed, choice and convenience while simultaneously assuring the safety and control of transactions as well. Apart from Mastercard Send, it also has a cross-border platform in place that facilitates easy transfer of funds. Mastercard Cross-Border Services is frequently chosen by various financial institutions from all over the world to bring about simplified cross-border payments. The platform remains lucrative as it boasts a strongly interconnected banking network and is backed by more than five-decade expertise in the seamless processing of digital payments.

Shares of Mastercard have gained 2.3% in a year against the industry’s 5.6% decline. MA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks in the Business Services space are Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC - Free Report) , The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG - Free Report) and Trane Technologies plc (TT - Free Report) . While Omnicom currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Interpublic Group and Trane Technologies carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The bottom line of Omnicom outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average beat being 7.99%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for OMC’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 3.2% from the year-ago reported figure. The same for revenues suggests growth of 2.7% from the prior-year figure. The consensus mark for OMC’s 2023 earnings has moved 6.7% north in the past 30 days.

Interpublic Group’s earnings outpaced estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and matched the mark once, the average being 8.23%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IPG’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 2.2% from the prior-year reported figure. The same for revenues suggests growth of 8.4% from the 2022 figure. The consensus mark for IPG’s 2023 earnings has moved 1.4% north in the past 30 days.

The bottom line of Trane Technologies outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average beat being 8.23%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TT’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 13.3% from the prior-year reported figure. The same for revenues suggests growth of 7.7% from the 2022 figure. The consensus mark for TT’s 2023 earnings has moved 1.7% north in the past 30 days.

Shares of Omnicom and Trane Technologies have gained 4% and 20.8%, respectively, in a year. However, the Interpublic Group stock has lost 6.1% in the same time frame.

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