Verizon and Mastercard forge partnership to bring 5G capabilities to payments
Verizon Business and Mastercard have forged a strategic partnership centred on bringing 5G to payments. Areas of focus will include contactless shopping, autonomous checkout technology and Cloud Point of Sale (POS) solutions.
One area of focus is touchless retail shopping experiences
The companies say they will work closely to unlock Internet of Things (IoT) sensor connectivity with near real-time edge computing to power the fintech, payments and banking industries. The work will be carried out at Mastercard’s New York City Tech Hub.
Linda Kirkpatrick, president, North America at Mastercard, says: “Emerging technology such as 5G and Mobile Edge Computing will undoubtedly reshape how we interact with each other, making it all the more critical for these exchanges – particularly payments – to be trusted and anticipate further changes.”
One area of focus is enabling smartphones or connected devices to seamlessly accept payments, turning them into commerce-enabled devices.
This includes Tap on Phone, a facility that allows businesses to deliver contactless consumer experiences by turning qualifying smartphones into acceptance devices.
Also on the table is unlocking touchless retail shopping experiences. Verizon’s 5G and Mobile Edge Computing will be integrated with Mastercard’s retail technology solutions to reduce hardware requirements for autonomous checkout in-store, with a goal of faster deployments and new use cases, such as mobile updates and voice and video ordering.
The two companies will also look to add new solutions that can entice further personalised consumer shopping experiences. This includes potential access control for unattended retail stores.
In addition, Verizon will tap Mastercard’s Bill Pay Exchange real-time messaging network to enable immediate communication between consumers and billers.
Bill Pay Exchange will allow Verizon to streamline bills paid through digital banking channels, digitise paper bills and deliver a mobile-first solution.
Verizon will also leverage technology from Ethoca, a Mastercard company, to identify and resolve fraud.
