Mastercard Partners With Verizon to Promote 5G Contactless Payments
Mastercard Partners With Verizon to Promote 5G Contactless Payments for Consumers and Businesses
On July 13, 2021, Mastercard and Verizon announced their partnership on 5G contactless payments for consumers and small- and medium-sized enterprises. The collaboration aims to enable small and medium enterprises to use smartphones for payments, facilitating touchless and contactless retail. Innovative strategies and actions are expected within the partnership by the year 2023.
With the Mastercard and Verizon partnership focusing on the 5G contactless payment, these fintech giants aim to digitise and disrupt global consumer spending at retailers and merchants. This 5G project will be conducted by teams from Mastercard and Verizon in the Mastercards’ New York Tech Hub.
The 5G Contactless Payment
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rising health and safety concerns, physical interactions and close contact pose a risk to a person’s well-being. With this, physical money from our pockets and wallets are limited down from contact as we see money as a dirty currency passing down through different hands in society. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already recommended corporations to use touchless payment methods whenever possible.
According to a study conducted in the United States, 55% of consumers are concerned about handling physical money or cash, including chip-and-pin cards machines or even Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) are unhygienic. Instead, most consumers now prefer contactless payment options using smartwatches, smartphones, and contactless debit and credit cards to prevent contamination or spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The partnership between the aforementioned fintech giants greatly innovated the future payment and commerce in the economy, such as the 5G contactless payment. Through this partnership, using 5G connectivity and the power of the Mastercard network, the touchless payment may revolutionize the fintech industry with immersive retail technology and digital capabilities.
The Future of Contactless Payment
The Mastercard-Verizon partnership is just a start in the aforementioned fintech revolutionary trend; perhaps these two corporations might have sparked a new reforming industry. Preference of customers in contactless payments will overtake physical cash and traditional credit cards within a couple of years.
Contactless payment is not entirely cheap for retailers, regardless of its size, in making investments. In exchange, this method will significantly help retailers in reducing transaction time, increasing revenue and shortening counter ques. In short, more productive than ever. A recent study reports that 27% of small business survey respondents have seen increased customers using their mobile phones or contactless cards to pay.
In the future of contactless payment methods, mobile and online wallets might replace physical wallets within consumers’ pockets. The adoption of proximity mobile payments has been sluggish in the United States compared to mobile-first regions like China. In 2019, 81.1% of smartphone users in China used mobile payments, while in the U.S., it was only 29%. This is expected to change rapidly. According to a study conducted by RTi Research, it was reported that 30% of consumers used touchless payment methods for the first time during the pandemic.
The Vision of Mastercard-Verizon Partnership
The partnership between Mastercard and Verizon has a long journey to go in the fintech industry, and the 5G contactless payment is just a start. The partnership has a lot to unveil to its consumers and patronizers, along with its vision of working closely in unlocking the internet of things or IoT sensor connectivity. This is a promising innovative technology that empowers the fintech, payments and banking industries, and commerce experience.
Along with enabling smartphones or connected devices to accept payment with the Verizon 5G seamlessly, this touchless retail shopping experience will be integrated within Mastercard’s retail technology solutions in reducing hardware requirements and faster deployments.
The partnership envisions creating new possible ways of consuming physical and digital goods. The collaboration will create a digitally motivated network in inserting innovative and tech-revolutionary solutions in a consumer’s shopping experiences such as in Amazon, etc. The partnership aims in helping small and medium enterprises with their readiness in the business arena, giving best practices, greater efficiencies and effectiveness in their online operations.
Lastly, the partnership aims to enhance the billing payment experience for its customers and patronizers. A tap of the Mastercard’s privileges can generate a network enabling enhanced and immediate established communication between its consumers and their billers. This allows it to streamline bills paid through digital banking channels, digitize paper bills and deliver a mobile-first solution, reducing costs and enhancing the payment experience for Verizon customers.
Takeaway
The emerging technology in the 21st century sparks a revolution in the tech industry by transitioning into modern devices. 5G connectivity and contactless payment methods illustrate how the creative and innovative minds of people may contribute to the advancement of our society. This would reshape the global economy and transactions as we face modernization.
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