With Mastercard Pay Local, digital wallet providers will gain access to more than 2 billion Mastercard cardholders, enabling card-based payments and providing more choice to residents and international travelers
Mastercard today launched Mastercard Pay Local, a global service that seamlessly connects consumers and merchants by allowing consumers to make card-based payments using local digital wallets. Mastercard cardholders can simply link their credit or debit cards to a participating local digital wallet to shop at merchants without needing to set up or top up a prepaid account.
Leading wallets in Asia Pacific, such as DANA in Indonesia, Touch ‘n Go in Malaysia, Bakong in Cambodia, and LankaPay in Sri Lanka, will leverage Mastercard Pay Local to allow consumers to make payments at more than 35 million merchants that accept these wallets. The service is also geared towards markets where digital wallets are widely used for everyday purchases, such as Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Mastercard Pay Local builds upon existing partnerships with leading wallet providers, including Alipay and Weixin Pay in the Chinese Mainland and Octopus in Hong Kong SAR, to offer a convenient way for international visitors to pay like a local when traveling to these destinations, regardless of where in the world their Mastercard card was issued.
Mastercard Pay Local benefits everyone involved:
Hundreds of millions of micro-, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can experience increased reach with minimal infrastructure investment or disruptions to their operations.
Wallet operators can extend their customer base by attracting individuals who primarily use cards, provide a smooth consumer experience and achieve quicker time to market.
Card issuers can deliver more points of acceptance for the consumers they serve.
Residents can pay the MSMEs who do not accept traditional card payments, and tourists can experience convenient, seamless payments across the destinations they’re visiting.
“Mastercard continues to set new standards for the payments industry by offering global solutions that make a local impact,” said Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard. “Our work with domestic networks and alternative payment methods underscores our dedication to delivering meaningful innovation. With Mastercard Pay Local, we are expanding the boundaries of acceptance.”
Today, a range of digital wallets already accept Mastercard to fund digital wallets domestically and pay at merchant locations that accept these wallets, including GrabPay in Southeast Asia, Maya in the Philippines, ShopBack in Singapore, TrueMoney in Thailand, and Mercado Pago in Argentina.
In regions such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Mastercard is currently partnering with wallet and mobile operators such as MTN Fintech, Airtel Africa, JazzCash, and M-Pesa to significantly increase the number of acceptance points for travelers and non-wallet holders.
