I couldn't help myself. I apologize for the terribly punny line.
But honestly, if I were MasterCard right now, I might be saying just that, strutting about among all the other issuers and preening a lot. (Apparently MasterCard is part frat boy and peacock. Or a peacock that belongs to a frat.)
MasterCard already owns the PayPass solution (which is their "tap and pay" method), which is already available at merchant locations nationwide. Most recently, they have:
- Signed an agreement with Google to be the issuer in the Google Wallet solution
- With the Citi MasterCard, Google Wallet-ers can begin using Google Wallet right away. If they don't have that card, they can use their Google prepaid card. By putting their name out there on one of the most talked about new products of this year, MasterCard is definitely making a statement. A statement along the lines of "Hey! Maybe Visa talked about it for a long time, but guess who got here first? Nyah nyah nyah."
- Formed a strategic partnership with mFoundry to make mobile payments more widely used by allowing easy integration through banks
- With this strategic partnership, MasterCard is getting a lot of exposure to the development community and making strong ties with one of the leading mobile banking providers in the US market today. mFoundry already provides mobile banking solutions for nearly 600 banks and credit unions, and together mFoundry and MasterCard are already planning on creating a mobile application that lets mobile phone operators to offer PayPass payments from their phones
- Announced an agreement with Western Union to provide electronic payments, prepaid cards and money transfers more efficient and convenient for consumers around the world.
- This is intriguing because it means two things: It means that MasterCard doesn't want to put all of their eggs in one mobile basket, and it also means that they have their sights strongly set on the emerging markets where there is a large potential market of underserved adults (from a financial services perspective--the article estimates that number to be around 2.5 billion adults worldwide)
- Do everything you can to ease/encourage adoption. No explanation necessary
- Forge into emerging markets where there is a large potential population open to convert from other banks or sign up for new financial services. This is two-fold: of course they want the name recognition of partnering with the leader of remittances and electronic fund transfers, but it's also because they know that it's only a matter of time before these "emerging" folks decide they want to step it up a notch and move into the credit card options. Especially for some of the emerging markets, like Brasil where credit is the most common form of currency (and they are legally allowed to offer discounts if you pay by credit!) this could be a significant move in capitalizing on new customers or cannibalizing exisitng card customers
- Play two ponies. Electronic fund transfers and mobile payments. Excellent double whammy. One is relatively accepted, especially in cross-border transactions and C2C payments (huge volume there), the other is causing a lot of buzz and getting a lot of consumer attention, particularly in the more developed (read: affluent) economies
- Play a whole herd of ponies when it comes to partners. Sure! Get mFoundry for some development, hook up with Western Union for some electronic funds transfers and go to Google for...well....for Google. What's next? A trusted service manager, a MNO (my bet's on Sprint or T-Mobile) and a hardware manufacturer
- Be quiet. And deadly. No flashy PR campaigns (*ahem* Google), no overpromising (*ahem* ISIS). Just results. I like it!
No comments:
Post a Comment