Mastercard (NYSE: MA) has launched Pay Local in order to empower digital wallet providers with new ways to pay.
With Mastercard Pay Local, digital wallet providers will gain access to more than 2 billion Mastercard cardholders, enabling card-based payments and providing choice to travelers
Mastercard confirmed in a blog post the official launch of Mastercard Pay Local, a service that connects consumers / merchants by allowing consumers to make card-based payments using digital wallets.
Mastercard cardholders can link their credit / debit cards to a digital wallet to shop at merchants without needing to set up a prepaid account.
Wallets in Asia Pacific, such as DANA in Indonesia, Touch ‘n Go in Malaysia, Bakong in Cambodia, and LankaPay in Sri Lanka, will leverage Mastercard Pay Local to allow consumers to “make payments at more than 35 million merchants that accept these wallets.”
The service is also geared towards markets where digital wallets are widely used for everyday purchases, such as Latin America, Eastern Europe.
Mastercard Pay Local builds upon partnerships with wallet providers, including Alipay and Weixin Pay in the Chinese Mainland and Octopus in Hong Kong SAR, to offer a way for visitors to pay like a local “when traveling to these destinations, regardless of where in the world their Mastercard card was issued.”
Mastercard Pay Local benefits everyone involved:
- Hundreds of millions of micro-, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can experience increased reach with minimal infrastructure investment or disruptions to their operations.
- Wallet operators can extend their customer base by attracting individuals who primarily use cards, provide a smooth consumer experience and achieve quicker time to market.
- Card issuers can deliver more points of acceptance for the consumers they serve.
- Residents can pay the MSMEs who do not accept traditional card payments, and tourists can experience convenient, seamless payments across the destinations they’re visiting.
Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard said that the payments company continues to set new “standards for the payments industry by offering global solutions that make a local impact.”
Lambert added that their work with domestic networks and alternative payment methods underscores their “dedication to delivering meaningful innovation. With Mastercard Pay Local, they are expanding the boundaries of acceptance.”
Today, a range of digital wallets already accept Mastercard to fund digital wallets domestically and pay at “merchant locations that accept these wallets, including GrabPay in Southeast Asia, Maya in the Philippines, ShopBack in Singapore, TrueMoney in Thailand, and Mercado Pago in Argentina.”
In regions such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Mastercard is currently partnering with wallet and mobile operators such as MTN Fintech, JazzCash, and M-Pesa to “significantly increase the number of acceptance points for travelers and non-wallet holders.”
