Denis Opudo
Mastercard is a tech firm in the international payment sector. The firm operates the fastest payments in processing network in the world. It connects businesses, financial institutions, governments. It also connects merchants and consumers in more than 210 countries globally. The company’s solutions and products make the day to day commercial activities like traveling more secure, easier and more efficient for every individual.
Mastercard has just announced an initiative to develop greater payment consistency. It has done that by offering a tap and go standards in the next five years. The changes are already underway and they are meant to ensure that merchants, consumers, and governments globally will be in a position to embrace the next generation digital technology that offers greater security and convenience. By the end of this year, the company will need a series of terminal and card upgrades. This will be required across Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Europe and Latin America. The upgrade will aim at bringing convenient and secure contactless card payment technology to many people globally. It means that each cardholder will be in a position to tap their device or card to pay daily in the listed regions.
The contactless payment has a high speed and dynamic EMV grade authentication. The two help to protect users from fraud. The payment model is transforming the daily businesses. Moreover, it is benefiting both consumers and merchants. This is because it increases the usage of the card and cash displacement. It also comes with unique use cases for governments such as transportation in various biggest cities in the world. Currently, many users are in a position to pay through a simple tap in more than 8 million locations within 111 countries. In 2017, Africa and the Middle East recorded a 27% increase in transactions carried out through contactless. Furthermore, the spend volume grew 18 times across the two regions. There is high demand for contactless payments since 15% of all purchases in the store are using the technology globally. Mastercard has come up with a roadmap which comes with some requirements.
Every new acceptance terminals in the Latin America, Asian Pacific, Middle East, Europe and Africa will have EMV chip and be enabled by contactless after October this year. All new cards given in the Latin America, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Europe and Africa will have EMV chip and contactless technology after April 2019. Every merchant terminal in the Latin America, Middle East, Europe and Africa will have EMV chip and enabled by contactless by April 2023.
Mastercard’s chief security solution officer Ajay Bhalla said that the company’s vision is to have a world where each person can safely and tap their device or card when making payments. He added that the move makes a significant step in having greater speed, security, and consistency on daily payments. African and the Middle East markets are have already accepted the move to contactless payments.
