By Chanel Smith (@PYMNTS_EMEA)
It is undoubtedly an exciting time for the payments industry, and MasterCard made sure the excitement was palpable during its annual Investor Day event earlier this week.
The yearly event was coupled with MasterCard’s Innovation Showcase, which was held just blocks away from Times Square in New York. In the one of world’s trendiest cities, MasterCard displayed the new ways in which it is helping to shape and enhance the customer shopping experience. The Innovation Showcase offered attendees the rare opportunity to learn, interact and witness the recent products and services that MasterCard, in conjunction with its partners, has created to try and deliver a better shopping experience.
“The digital lifestyle is radically altering the day-to-day shopping experience, and habits, of consumers,” explained Ed McLaughlin, chief emerging payments officer at MasterCard. “As a result, consumers will now shop and pay in whatever way best fits their needs and lifestyles, from every device they have, with a simple tap, click or touch at the register, in the aisle, at home, on the go – or anywhere else.”
MasterCard demonstrated 10 new ways that consumers can pay in our fast-moving digital age. Each technology had its own unique charm and utility, however there was a common thread linking all 10: the concept of the omnichannel. The advent of cutting-edge technology—such as state-of-the-art smartphones, tablets and interactive televisions—is leaving merchants worldwide with no choice but to start converging various shopping channels for a seamless experience.
Here is a brief overview on the 10 innovations showcased at MasterCard’s Investor Day and Innovation Showcase event:
ShopThis! With MasterPass: Imagine you’re thumbing through your favorite fashion magazine on your tablet and you stumble upon a dress you can’t live without. ShopThis! With MasterPass, with Intel and PhiSix Fashion Labs, helps these shoppers get a hold of items they find in digital advertisements. The service allows consumers to buy the products directly using their MasterPass account.
Another problem many online shoppers run into is deciding how the garment will fit and which size to purchase. Intel’s Virtual Shopping Experience—a fully interactive 3D virtual fitting room application—creates a virtual avatar to help shoppers visualize how the dress will look in real life. What’s more: Users can share the avatar image on social media sites to solicit further fashion advice from friends.
This service is not yet available to shoppers, however MasterCard hinted a launch would launch just in time for the holiday season.
Wearable Devices: MasterCard Labs demonstrated how wearable decides can be used as digital shopping devices. This technology has the power to change the way consumers shop and pay for merchandise, as well as change how retailers interact with their shoppers.
QkR: This is an application that is highly popular amongst users, and it offers new ways for consumers to pay in simple and convenient ways.
QkR In-stadium is a service that will leave many sports-goers scratching their heads and thinking: “Why didn’t I ever think of that?” With QkR, customers can scan a QR code at their seat, pull up a food and drink menu and order from their seats. Once the payment is made, the food is delivered directly to their seat. People will no longer need to miss important moments during the game or fight off crowds to get food during breaks.
“It is creating efficiency in the stadium because how food and merchandise is dispersed during events is inefficient, it’s during these tight windows. Technology is enabling these payment opportunities in new ways that weren’t ever possible with a piece of plastic,” Oran Cummins, senior VP at Labs Technology told PYMNTS.com.
At present, QkR In-Stadium is live in Australia, Ireland and in the U.S., but only at the Yankees Stadium.
QkR Schools: This application is currently being piloted at various educational institutions across Australia, and allows parents to pre-order and pay for their child’s school meals. This advanced service helps the merchant understand which meals need to prepared for each school day, and it also solves the issue of forgotten lunch money. Students will no longer have to bring in cash, and parents have the opportunity to become more involved in what their children are eating for lunch.
MasterPass by MasterCard: Online card abandonment is a big problem for many online retailers. A multi-layered checkout processed, along with a lack of mobile responsive sites, result in customers forfeiting the transaction. MasterPass by MasterCard attempts to offer a digital wallet solution that expedites the checkout process by storing contact and payment information. This service eliminates the need to re-enter meticulous information each time a consumer wants to make a purchase on their phone or online.
Fuel Rewards: Gas prices are constantly changing, which is understandably frustrating. This MasterCard partnership aims to give cardholders a reward for filling up their tank, and allows them
Qantas Cash: MasterCard believes this is the next generation loyalty card from Qantas Airlines. This program aims to make international travel more convenient. This mobile application allows travelers to top-up their accounts with foreign currency to spend in the different countries they travel to. This service is currently admissible at over 35 million locations where MasterCard is accepted. Addtionally, the card can also substitute as a boarding pass when flying.
Parkeon: This modern parking meter application is replacing the need to keep using outdated, coin-guzzling parking meters on the street. MasterCard’s new technology with Parkeon allows consumers to pay for parking, while also finding out about all the local promotions and deals going on that are within close proximity to where they parked. MasterCard is hoping to add more features in the future, and expects to begin the pilot before the end of the year, starting in Long Island, New York.
“Digital Food”: MasterCard brings food donation into the digital age and is helping to transform the World Food Programme’s business model by replacing in-kind food deliveries with “digital food.” This enables people to purchase food from local merchants through ePayments, and helps to give them safe and more secure payment methods.
Simplify Commerce: Simply Commerce helps merchants to take eCommerce and mobile commerce payments, despite the payment brand, in an efficient manner. Smaller merchants are often intimidated by the complexity of accepting mobile and online payments, however Simplify Commerce offers various features and guidance to help the process run smoothly and comprehensively.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
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