Masterpass Is Evolving, But Into What?

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Masterpass is Mastercard’s version of a virtual wallet. You can store your card information for several credit cards, not just Mastercards, in your Masterpass account. Then when paying for items online, you just need to log in to your Masterpass account, pick the payment card, and complete the transaction. This was supposedly safer because you never had to input your card information into the website where you were making the purchase.

However, this added an extra step into your online purchases. Really, what was the advantage since your card information seems to get hacked on a regular basis anyway, and when it does, having a Masterpass account is just one more place you have to update your new card information.

Well, it appears Masterpass is changing. The problem is, I can’t figure out what it’s changing into.

Masterpass is evolving

Soon, Masterpass will be upgraded to an advanced guest checkout experience that makes passwords a thing of the past. This new checkout option is smarter, faster and lets you store your information in one secure payment profile.

To get ready, confirm your Masterpass account information is up to date and add any new Mastercard cards to your account today.

While Masterpass claims Citi is one of their “Featured users,” I received this email for all my Citi cards enrolled in Masterpass:

On August 31, 2019, Citi Pay | Masterpass will be discontinued. You will not be able to access your Citi Pay | Masterpass account or use it to shop online and within apps.

What you need to know:

• You can continue to use Citi Pay | Masterpass to complete your purchases online and within apps until August 30, 2019. 
• Your Citi Pay | Masterpass account will be inaccessible on August 31, 2019.

Barclays still has their Masterpass webpage up.

Tap, pay, on your way

Use your Barclaycard or Barclays credit card in Masterpass to check out quickly and securely in-store. Just open the Masterpass app and select your Barclaycard or Barclays credit card. Tap the blue contactless icon, enter your PIN and hover the device close to the terminal.

So I have to open an app, enter my pin and pay with my phone. Can I ask why I couldn’t just use Apple Pay, Android Pay or Google Pay?

Final Thoughts

While I appreciate that Mastercard has learned that their Masterpass payment program was going nowhere, I can’t see how they think making someone open a third-party app on a phone when the phone’s own payment system is easier to use (and more prominently featured) can work. The only way would be if they prohibit you from using Mastercard products in the phone payment apps, which would be the same as saying you can’t use them for most people. I can’t see how this new system will gain any more traction than the old one.

But then again, I’m not really sure what the new Masterpass program will be like since we have no details about it beyond that the old program will be going away at the end of the month.  The only thing I can hope is that they put out some super sweet offers to try and get us to use it. That would be nice.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary