According to both companies, the partnership will make mobile payments accessible to more consumers. In addition,

MasterCard has also made a strategic investment in mFoundry to further its place in the mobile commerce space.

“MasterCard and mFoundry are working together to enable more banks and credit unions around the world to offer their customers the convenience and security of Mobile PayPass,” said Joanne Trout, senior business leader at MasterCard Worldwide, Purchase, NY. 

“MasterCard shares mFoundry’s philosophy that banks and credit unions will want to use their existing mobile banking solutions as a foundation for the emerging mobile payments,” she said.

MasterCard is a global payments and technology company.

MFoundry http://www.mfoundry.com is a mobile banking service in the United States.

Bank on mobile
The partnership and investment will use MasterCard’s PayPass technology with mFoundry’s mobile financial services platform.

Via the partnership, the technology will let consumers make faster payments by tapping their NFC-enabled device on any PayPass-enabled terminal at a merchant check-out.

Additionally, both companies are working to provide carriers with an application that supports Mobile PayPass and allowing them to offer mobile contactless payments to their customers.

According to Ms. Trout, the partnership will open up more options for MasterCard cardholders to take advantage of Mobile PayPass.

Both companies are getting the word out about the new initiatives through respective sales forces of both mFoundry and MasterCard.

“MFoundry and MasterCard share hundreds of clients – banks and credit unions – already; this will just be an extension of our product offering,” Ms. Trout said. “However, new products will start to be sold jointly in mid-2012.

“Since every smart device will eventually become a commerce device, consumers will be able to shop with their phones, tablets, game consoles and PCs with a simple and secure tap, click or touch,” she said. “From city streets to country roads, MasterCard sees a tomorrow where digital commerce will revolutionize the shopping experience just as magnetic stripe cards did years ago. 

“As such, mobile payments are a key area of focus for MasterCard.”

Final Take
Rimma Kats is staff reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York