Taking A Look at MasterPass

You can order pad Thai or new living room furniture with just one swipe of your finger these days, which is straight-up magic from Merlin when you think about it.  Technology has made life easier, right? While you can order ten pounds of birdseed from anywhere in the world thanks to the iDevice of your choosing, both consumers and merchants agree that the digital checkout process can be long and complicated. Your one tangible wallet provides you with several payment options; with all of the advancements in Merlin-style-magic technology, you’d think there would be a digital wallet that works similarly.

MasterCard stepped in to design a service for consumers and merchants who want the most simplified checkout process ever. In 2013, the company launched the MasterPass app, which was the first mobile wallet of its kind: it provides both security and universal acceptance as an open platform wallet. In other words, the service allows the customer to pay with any credit card, debit card, or prepaid card the merchant accepts—and yes, that means customer don’t even have to be MasterCard holders to use MasterPass.

How it works

MasterPass eliminates the need to enter financial and shipping information at every new merchant site, or store financials across a number of apps—not only does this streamline the transaction process, but it’s also a better safeguard to sensitive information. 

Here’s how it works:  first, create a digital wallet through the app.  When you decide to buy an item from a merchant, you simply click on the MasterPass icon on the website, sign in to the app,  choose and authenticate your wallet and shipping address, and that’s it—complete checkout as usual on the merchant’s page. To review: sign in, click, click (or swipe, swipe if you’re on an Android or iPhone).  MasterPass does all the work as far as transferring funds and shipping information to the merchant, who submits the payment information to their acquirer as usual for processing.

Benefits for everybody

The MasterPass is a win-win whether you’re buying or selling:

• Customers like loyalty programs—rewards point turn into freebies or discounts, and what’s not to like about those? Businesses like loyalty programs—repeat customers are the best customers. MasterPass understands both sides of the coin, and as an open wallet, the app accepts loyalty cards to earn points with every use.
• MasterPass won’t show up as the merchant of record, which makes for an easier transaction experience for customers and merchants alike.
• When transactions happen, fraud scoring takes place as this is now an industry standard.  MasterPass safeguards user accounts with multiple layers of security (CVC check, address verification, and text alerts) plus optional security features. MasterCard and MasterPass work with bank partners’ Fraud Prevention programs as well.

An unbeatable price?

MasterPass is free!  There are no fees for consumers or merchants to use the app. (Merchants may incur costs to implement MasterPass on their sites if they use third-party resources to help.) Merchants only have to create a free Merchant Account and agree to abide by the rules of service, and they can cancel the account at any point, penalty-free.

One secure app that makes it easy to checkout from with any card from your wallet, and for free?  It sounds like it’s worth experimenting with this kind of magic.

Other payment and credit card related articles of interest: