Mastercard to leverage the Digital India initiative

Mastercard said it is considering integrating facial recognition technology, Masterpass and other online payment methods with other services it currently offers in India, according to a report by The Tech Portal.

The move is part of Mastercard’s plans to expand its investment in the country by over 30 percent, particularly in the e-commerce space.

The investment aligns with the Indian government’s Digital India initiative, which aims to make government services available to citizens electronically by enhanced online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity.

Mastercard will further leverage the Digital India initiative to market its services.

“India is one of the top priorities in the region,” said Sam Ahmed, MasterCard’s senior vice president of marketing for Asia Pacific. “We have increased our investments in India by over 30% in the last two years and we are going to increase it even more.”

He said the company was looking at a number of digital payment innovations which were to be launched in India in future, including face recognition, Masterpass and other online payment methods.

Ahmed said the significant increase of mobile penetration within the country plays an integral factor in providing customers with access to such digital payment methods.

“The investments will also be channelized towards the digital and e-commerce engine giving consumers what they need,” Ahmed said. “We are planning to do this by partnering with small businesses and merchants and outbound travellers.”

Mastercard will further market the new services to small businesses and merchants and outbound travelers via movie promotional campaigns and local sporting events.

Last year MasterCard and PRIME Research revealed the results of the fourth annual MasterCard Mobile Payments Study, which found that consumers are increasingly embracing digital payments options including biometrics.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  ecommerce  |  facial recognition  |  India  |  Mastercard