MasterCard Unveils Major Upgrades to MasterPass Payment Platform

NEW YORK — In one of the biggest changes in its history, MasterCard Inc. unveiled a new brand identity, primarily consisting of a new logo and major upgrades to its MasterPass digital payment platform. These moves were announced during an event held July 14 at New York City's One World Observatory.

“Today is a seminal moment in the history of our company and hopefully the history of our industry,” Craig Vosburg, president, North America for MasterCard, told guests at the event that took place on the 102nd floor of a building offering sweeping views of New York and New Jersey. “The possibilities are endless.”

Of importance to convenience store retailers, MasterPass will be relaunched later this month in the United States with a platform that can be used across all channels, including in-store, via smartphone apps and online.

“MasterPass will change the face of payments,” said Garry Lyons, MasterCard’s chief innovation officer.

In addition to consumers being able to use MasterPass in stores at the point-of-sale, it will have many other applications including the ability for consumers to order groceries directly from their refrigerator, something that was demonstrated during the event. In fact, MasterPass can be even be used for payment when ordering food from robots, Lyons noted. 

The mobile wallet service will feature advanced security, including tokenization, EMV-like cryptography, and MasterCard fraud monitoring, he added.

“MasterPass is more than just a mobile wallet,” stated Vosburg. “It’s a platform for commerce and hopefully will be the future of commerce.”

THINKING OUTSIDE THE CIRCLES

Along with the MasterPass enhancements, MasterCard executives announced changes to the brand's long-standing logo. The new logo will roll out in late July.  

The biggest difference in the new logo is the placement of the word “MasterCard,” moving it from inside the two interlocking circles in the logo to now outside of those circles.

Raja Rajamannar, MasterCard’s chief marketing and communications officer, acknowledged that it was difficult to change MasterCard’s logo more dramatically because its red and yellow interlocking circles are so widely recognized by consumers. 

“Our research shows 81 percent of people know us just by our logo, even if the name is not included,” said Rajamannar. “But we don’t want to lose the other 19 percent, so we are keeping [our name in the logo, but] taking it outside of the circles.” 

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