Mastercard Incorporated (MA) has taken a significant step towards enhancing online shopping security and convenience by launching its new Payment Passkey Service globally. This innovative service is designed to protect online and remote tokenized transactions, reducing the risk of fraud and improving approval rates.
By combining tokenized payment credentials with biometric authentication, Mastercard leverages industry standards from EMVCo, the World Wide Web Consortium, and the FIDO Alliance to create a more secure checkout process. The service utilizes passkeys and tokenization to secure online transactions, ensuring that no financial account data is shared with third parties. This effectively eliminates the potential for fraudsters and scammers to exploit sensitive information.
The Payment Passkey Service was initially piloted in India with major payment aggregators like Juspay, Razorpay, and PayU, as well as online merchants such as BigBasket and Axis Bank. This pilot phase aimed to empower consumers with greater control and peace of mind during online checkouts. The initiative is particularly timely given the alarming increase in fraud cases in India, which have risen by nearly 300% over the past two years, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s 2023-2024 Annual Report.
Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard, expressed the company’s commitment to creating a more transparent and secure commerce ecosystem. “Through innovative technology that enhances security and convenience, we’re creating a more transparent commerce ecosystem for all,” Lambert stated. “As we continue to lead the way in digital payments, our commitment to achieving a tokenized future is stronger than ever.”
Following the successful pilot in India, Mastercard plans to expand its Payment Passkey Service to more consumers and financial institutions globally in the coming months. This week, Mastercard partnered with Rellevate, Inc., a fintech company specializing in flexible money access, to expand payments and disbursement services in the public sector.
Investors seeking exposure to Mastercard can do so through the iShares U.S. Financial Services ETF (IYG) and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF). On Wednesday, MA shares closed lower by 0.67% at $471.80.
