Mastercard Introduces Consumer Control API

On Monday (Oct. 23), Mastercard announced news of the launch of Mastercard Consumer Control, which allows consumers to view where their credit card information is stored online. The program is an API that displays where payment details are kept, allowing cardholders to understand how that information is being used.

“As digital payments continue to evolve, cardholders have more and more options to enable new types of devices for payment and to pay in new ways online and in-app,” said Jessica Turner, executive vice president of Digital Payments & Labs at Mastercard. “In our ongoing commitment to deliver consumer-centric solutions, Mastercard is introducing a series of APIs that will give the consumer direct control to view where their card is stored and manage spend across all digital channels — all from right within their mobile banking app or website.”

A recent Mastercard survey indicated that 73 percent of Americans want to manage their credit card information digitally. The same survey revealed that 78 percent of respondents are hesitant to store their payment information online due to security reasons.

“Consumers decide where technology and the future of commerce will go. What we’re really working on is trying to simplify that,” said Turner in an interview with PYMNTS. “What we’re really going to be focused on is consumer control, connectivity of payments, and this idea of how digital payments, retail and digital come together.”

Mastercard Consumer Control is one of 35 APIs available through the Mastercard Developers portal. Open for use by independent developers and issuers, the program can be used to implement management and security features in existing financial service interfaces.

Consumers are able to conveniently access Consumer Control features directly through their own banks and credit unions. First Tech Federal Credit Union is among the first credit issuers to enable Mastercard Consumer Control.

On Friday, Mastercard also announced the availability of its blockchain API to developers. Initially for use in B2B transactions, the Mastercard API uses the Ethereum blockchain to keep payments private between parties and also to ensure “a fully auditable and valid ledger of transactions.”

“Mastercard envisions a future powered by an API for everything,” said the company. “In the last year alone, the Mastercard API Platform has seen a 400 percent increase in usage.”