Mastercard, HERE Technologies Team To Make Cities (And Commerce) Smarter

Payments company Mastercard and location platform provider HERE Technologies announced Tuesday (Jan. 9) would partner to create a payment experience for people on-the-move.

In a joint press release, the companies said they will work together to meld digital payments and mapping technologies and enable the ability to make payments while in motion via a connected car’s dashboard.

“With more users than ever moving between different places and devices, enterprises need to work more closely together to curate experiences that put people, not things, at the center,” said Hany Fam, executive vice president of enterprise partnerships for Mastercard, in the press release. “By combining our expertise and our reach, Mastercard and HERE Technologies have the opportunity to empower mobile lifestyles in the most secure, informed and inclusive way.”

In addition to advancing connected vehicle payments, the two companies will explore additional uses cases for mobility-as-a-service (MaaS), demand management and location-based services. Solutions for these use cases will rely on data analytics from both companies.

“Location technology and digital payments are at the heart of how we access services in the physical world,” said Angel Mendez, executive vice president and chief operating officer at HERE Technologies, in the same press release. “Together they enable people, businesses and cities to deliver and act on valued information at the right time and location. We look forward to working with Mastercard on a wide-ranging innovation program that will help shape the personal experience of users across transportation modes and within smarter cities.”

In addition to working together, HERE Technologies will join City Possible under the agreement. City Possible is an initiative aimed at creating new forms of collaboration between the private and public sector for urban development.