MasterCard today became the first payment network to provide tokenization services to private label (store-branded) credit card issuers, enabling merchants to take advantage of the latest digital payment innovations. The company also announced partnerships with some of the largest private label credit card issuers in the U.S., to enable consumers to use their eligible credit cards within participating mobile payment and digital wallet services.
According to Equifax’s National Consumer Credit Trends Report, the number of open retail credit card accounts exceeded the 195 million mark by the fall of 2014.
Tokenization support for private label issuers is made possible through the MasterCard Digital Enablement Service (MDES), which enables a connected device to be securely used for everyday shopping and payments. MDES supports contactless (NFC) payments with a mobile device at a physical point of sale, as well as from within a mobile app. „Transactions are secured using industry-standard EMV cryptography and take full advantage of the most secure payments technology in the world.”, according to the press release.
“Thanks to our ongoing innovation and strategic partnerships, we are helping shape the future of how private label credit cards work in whichever digital wallet customers choose,” said Margaret Keane, president and CEO of Synchrony Financial. “It was recently announced that our retail partner, JCPenney, will be among the first to offer its private label credit cardholders the ability to checkout with Apple Pay later this year. We are committed to working with our retail partners, MasterCard, and key payments industry players to preserve the benefits of our private label credit cards and patented Dual Cards in third-party digital wallets.”
“We’re seeing significant momentum and innovation around digital wallets, and a key focus for MasterCard is that consumers can leverage these new offerings safely and securely. MDES was developed to ensure that any connected device can be used to make purchases, and deliver the simplicity, security and convenience people have become accustomed to when using a MasterCard account of their choice,” said Ed McLaughlin, chief emerging payments officer, MasterCard. “MasterCard is helping merchants capitalize on mobile payments, ensure the best possible consumer experience for their consumers and encourage both repeat business and customer loyalty.”
Since the announcement of MDES in 2013, millions of MasterCard accounts have been tokenized for use in popular digital wallet services. MDES currently provides tokenization services for credit, debit, co-brand, prepaid and small business cards, with private label tokenization beginning in the third quarter of this year.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below: