PURCHASE, N.Y. — Projecting that the number of digital wallet users globally will rise to six-billion by 2030 from the current 4.3 billion, Mastercard is launching a global portfolio of services designed to make digital wallets more interoperable across borders and payment systems as the number of wallet users worldwide continues to surge.
The company said Mastercard Wallet Pay will allow digital wallet providers to connect their services across contactless payments, QR codes and online transactions while tapping into Mastercard’s global acceptance network.
The company is working with digital payment providers including Alipay+, Axian, CRED, DaviPlata, Mercado Pago, MTN and TenPay Global to expand the reach of Wallet Pay.
Alipay+, the global wallet gateway operated by Ant International, supports partner wallets including AlipayHK, Clip, GCash, KakaoPay, TNG eWallet and TrueMoney. Mastercard said Alipay+ connects more than 50 e-wallets and banking apps as well as more than 10 national payment systems worldwide.
Connecting Wallets Across Borders
Mastercard said Wallet Pay is intended in part to address fragmentation in the digital wallet market by allowing providers to connect across countries, platforms and different forms of payment.
The services can also support wallet providers that want to issue their own credit, debit or prepaid card programs.
For merchants, Mastercard said the technology can help create a more unified experience for accepting cards and wallets both in stores and online.
More than 3.7 billion Mastercard credentials can be connected to digital wallets through the company’s network, according to Mastercard.
Additional Support
Wallet Pay also supports money transfers among cards, wallets and accounts across more than 200 countries and territories and 150 currencies, the company said.
Mastercard said the technology uses capabilities including cloud-based payments, allowing wallet providers to introduce additional services without making significant changes to their existing infrastructure.
Potential uses include allowing travelers to connect existing payment cards to local wallets, enabling businesses to move money and expanding access to digital financial services in markets with large underbanked or unbanked populations.
Digital Wallets Expanding Beyond Payments
The launch reflects the broader evolution of digital wallets from tools primarily used to store payment credentials into platforms offering a wider range of financial services.
Mastercard said Wallet Pay is designed to support stored-value wallets while giving wallet operators access to its global payment network and hundreds of millions of acceptance locations and digital access points.
“Wallets are gateways to the digital economy and launchpads for broader financial services,” Jorn Lambert, Mastercard’s chief product officer, said in a statement.
Lambert said Wallet Pay is intended to help payment providers improve interoperability and the user experience while providing greater scale and convenience for consumers and businesses.
