Mastercard unveils Wallet Pay for connected global payments

Mastercard has launched Mastercard Wallet Pay, a global portfolio of payment solutions designed to improve interoperability among digital wallets across contactless, QR-code and online payments.

The service will work with digital payment providers including Alipay+ and its partner wallets AlipayHK, Clip, GCash, KakaoPay, TNG eWallet and TrueMoney, as well as Axian, CRED, DaviPlata, Mercado Pago, MTN and TenPay Global, according to a press release.

Digital wallets have evolved into multi-service platforms serving more than 4.3 billion users worldwide, while global usage is expected to exceed six billion by 2030, Mastercard said.

The Wallet Pay portfolio seeks to help digital wallet providers introduce services ranging from everyday payments to cross-border money transfers while meeting demand in the rapidly expanding digital economy.

Mastercard said the partnerships would allow participating wallets to connect users with hundreds of millions of payment acceptance locations and digital access points worldwide.

The initiative also reinforces Mastercard's strategy of supporting stored-value digital wallets through its global payments network.

Alipay+, the global wallet gateway of Ant International, connects more than 50 e-wallets and banking applications and over 10 national payment schemes worldwide. It will help its partner wallets connect to Mastercard Wallet Pay at scale.

Using cloud-based payment technology and Mastercard's acceptance network, wallet providers can introduce new services without making significant changes to their existing infrastructure, the company said.

The portfolio is intended to support travellers linking their cards to local wallets, businesses transferring money and communities accessing formal financial tools for the first time.

It enables connections among wallets operating across different countries, platforms and payment types.

Mastercard Wallet Pay also supports wallet providers looking to launch their own credit, debit, or prepaid card programmes, helping them create additional revenue streams and strengthen customer engagement.

The portfolio lets merchants accept payments from cards and digital wallets both in person and online.

Mastercard said the facility would allow more than 3.7 billion Mastercard credentials to connect with digital wallets, helping increase transactions across different payment channels.

Wallet Pay also facilitates transfers among cards, digital wallets and accounts across more than 200 countries and territories and in 150 currencies.

The company said the portfolio could deliver lower-cost financial tools to underbanked and unbanked consumers and support digital inclusion in emerging markets.

"Wallets are gateways to the digital economy and launchpads for broader financial services," Mastercard Chief Product Officer Jorn Lambert said.

"Through our Wallet Pay solutions, we're helping payment providers enhance the interoperability and user experience of their services, underpinned by trust, scale and convenience for the people and businesses they serve," he added.

Mastercard Executive Vice President for Core Payments in Asia Pacific Joyce Bo said consumers and merchants don't focus on the complexity behind payments; they expect familiar, dependable ways to pay and receive money.

"Consumers and merchants don't think about the complexity behind payments. They want to pay and get paid using the payment experiences they already know and trust, whether they're shopping at home or abroad," she said.

"The first chapter of digital wallets was adoption. The next chapter is interoperability at scale. As wallet ecosystems mature, the challenge is extending their reach across more merchants, use cases and borders," she added.

Bo said Mastercard Wallet Pay would help providers expand their services—from cross-border payments to card issuance—without requiring them to build the entire underlying connectivity themselves.

Mastercard said Wallet Pay is built on its broader commitment to financial inclusion, including the recently announced Global Financial Health Coalition.

The coalition brings together leading digital wallet providers to help close the gap between access to financial services and genuine financial health.

KakaoPay Head of Global Business Brian A Kim said the South Korean financial services platform is committed to providing intuitive, reliable services to millions of users at home and abroad.

"The joint solution provided by Alipay+ and Mastercard enables us to enhance our global acceptance significantly, ensuring seamless payment journeys for our users wherever they go," he said.

"This partnership empowers us to scale efficiently, accelerate the rollout of innovative services and further extend the value of our everyday financial ecosystem worldwide," he added.

TNG Digital Chief Executive Officer Alan Ni said the collaboration would extend the convenience of TNG eWallet beyond Malaysia.

"Through our collaboration with Mastercard, we are extending the convenience of TNG eWallet beyond Malaysia, making it easier for our users to top up and pay using their eWallet when travelling abroad while giving international visitors a seamless way to enjoy the same convenience during their stay in Malaysia," he said.

"Together, we are delivering a more connected payment experience that gives users greater convenience and peace of mind, wherever life takes them," he added.

Ascend Money Co-President Monsinee Nakapanant said the future of digital wallets depended on both user experience and interoperability.

Ascend Money operates TrueMoney.

"Through our collaboration with Alipay+ and Mastercard, TrueMoney can connect millions of users in Thailand to Mastercard's global acceptance network while making secure contactless payments simpler and more accessible," she said.

"Together, we're helping accelerate the next generation of connected digital payment experiences across Thailand and beyond," she added.

AXIAN Digibank & Fintech CEO Erwan Gelebart said Africa's digital wallets served as gateways to opportunity by connecting people and businesses to an increasingly global digital economy.

"Through MVola and Mixx, we are combining deep local relevance with global reach, enabling customers to pay, transact and move money more freely across borders," he said.

"Mastercard Wallet Pay will help us take that ambition further, expanding secure, seamless and inclusive financial access across Africa," he added.

DaviPlata CEO Marcela Ramirez Olaya said the company had worked with Mastercard to develop a digital debit card intended to remove entry barriers by eliminating acquisition costs.

"The result: in just 15 months, we reached 1.5 million active cards," she said.

The company later enabled customers to link the card with Apple Pay and Google Pay, allowing them to make mobile payments directly from their DaviPlata balances.

Olaya said the service, supported by exclusive benefits developed with merchant partners, had recorded nearly two transactions per customer each month.

"This reinforces our card as the preferred payment method for customers' everyday purchases," she added.

Mercado Pago Fintech Acquiring Senior Vice President Paula Arregui said allowing customers to link Mastercard debit and credit cards to Mercado Pago digital accounts had strengthened the platform's value proposition.

The integration had enabled Mercado Pago to offer a simpler experience to millions of people across Latin America who use the platform to manage their finances, she said.

MTN Group Fintech Executive for Payments and E-Commerce Cedric N'Guessan said expanding financial inclusion in Africa required strong partnerships and scalable infrastructure.

"Our partnership with Mastercard is connecting millions of MoMo users to the global economy," he said.

"The combination of our local reach and Mastercard's global network is a powerful way to unlock opportunities for millions," he added.

TenPay Global Singapore CEO Wenhui Yang said the company was committed to working with partners such as Mastercard Wallet Pay to develop a more open and inclusive global payment network.

"We believe the next phase of borderless payments will be driven by greater interoperability and deeper ecosystem collaboration," he said.

Yang said TenPay Global would work with Mastercard to connect international digital wallets with the Weixin Pay merchant network.

Through the collaboration, international visitors will be able to use their domestic wallets to make QR-code payments at tens of millions of WeChat Pay merchants in mainland China.

The service is intended to give international visitors a familiar, convenient payment method while helping wallet providers expand their global reach.

Mastercard said the Wallet Pay portfolio would support further digital wallet innovation by combining international payment connectivity, financial inclusion and interoperability across markets.