MasterCard Introduces PayPass Wallet Services at CTIA

MasterCard announced a new mobile payment platform called PayPass Wallet Services at CTIA. Gary Flood, president of global products at solutions at MasterCard, demonstrated the new service on stage during his keynote today. Using an NFC-equipped Samsung Galaxy S II, Flood and his colleague showed off the new platform for the first time in a live setting.

The global platform will target banks, merchants and consumers with a "simple tap, click or touch" functionality aimed at simplifying the buying and selling experience. The new services are comprised of three components. The PayPass Acceptance Network (PayPass Online and PayPass Contactless) enables merchants to accept electronic payments across multiple channels. PayPass Wallet enables banks, merchants and partners to white label their own wallets with the ability to pay for goods or services with any credit or debit card (it is not exclusive to MasterCard). And the PayPas API allows developers to connect their customized digital wallets into the PayPass Acceptance Network.

As Flood made his case for the largely untapped opportunity in mobile commerce, he noted that "85 per cent of the world's money transactions are made in cash and checks."

American Airlines and Barnes & Noble will be doing their part to change that number as the first merchant partners to incorporate the PayPass Online checkout button on their websites. American Airlines also plans to integrate PayPass Wallet into its mobile applications.

MasterCard has secured deals with 18 financial institutions, nine merchants and 15 technology companies to assist in the launch and adoption of PayPass Wallet Services.