Mastercard traverses national boundaries with Wallet Pay

Digital wallets are gaining in popularity. In fact, the latest data, cited by Mastercard, puts the user base at over 4.3 billion users worldwide, with global usage of digital wallets set to top 6 billion by 2030.

It is against this backdrop that Mastercard is introducing Mastercard Wallet Pay, a global portfolio of solutions designed to foster interoperability and innovation for digital wallets across NFC, QR code and online digital payments.

Harnessing advanced capabilities, Mastercard Wallet Pay solutions empower wallet providers to deliver frictionless experiences – from everyday spending to cross-border transfers – meeting the demands of a rapidly expanding digital economy, the card company said in a press release.

Mastercard is collaborating with leading digital payment service providers on Wallet Pay, including Alipay+, the global gateway of Ant International that supports 50 e-wallets and banking apps as well as over 10 national payment schemes worldwide.

Together with these partners and other partners, Mastercard Wallet Pay expands access to essential financial tools and enables acceptance at hundreds of millions of locations and digital access points worldwide.

Mastercard, in its press release, said Wallet Pay reinforces its commitment to powering stored value digital wallets at scale across its global payments network.

"The Alipay+ ecosystem represents the collective commitment of 50 mobile payment partners, over 10 national QR networks and over 150 million global merchants to transform local payment experiences into a truly borderless digital economy," said Peng Yang, CEO of Ant International, which owns Alipay.

"The future of digital wallets is not only about great user experiences, but also about interoperability that allows consumers to pay seamlessly wherever they are," added Monsinee Nakapanant, co-president of Ascend Money, the operator of TrueMoney, a financial technology and e-wallet platform serving markets throughout Southeast Asia.

Nakapanant further noted that through the collaboration with Alipay+ and Mastercard, "TrueMoney can connect millions of users in Thailand to Mastercard's global acceptance network while making secure contactless payments simpler and more accessible."

Endless possibilities

With technologies like cloud-based payments and Mastercard's global acceptance network, wallet providers can leverage Mastercard Wallet Pay and bring new use cases to life without significant changes to their infrastructures, Mastercard said.

"Wallets are gateways to the digital economy and launchpads for broader financial services," said Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard. "Through our Wallet Pay solutions, we're helping payment providers to enhance the interoperability and user experience of their services, underpinned by trust, scale and convenience for the people and businesses they serve."

Mastercard touted a litany of benefits that can be had with Wallet Pay. These include:

• Interoperability – enabling smooth connections between wallets across borders, platforms and payment types.

• Support for providers launching their own credit, debit or prepaid card programs.

• Unified digital and eCommerce experiences, allowing merchants to accept payments from cards and wallets in person and online, thereby driving transaction growth.

• Accelerated money movement between cards, wallets and accounts across 200-plus countries and territories and 150 currencies.

• Low-cost financial tools that can help bring unbanked and underbanked consumers into the financial services mainstream.

Mastercard said that with the Wallet Pay portfolio, it is not only expanding access and interoperability but leading the way for digital wallet innovation and financial inclusion worldwide. Mastercard added that Wallet Pay builds upon the company's longstanding commitment to driving financial inclusion.

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