Mastercard Inc., like her fierce rival Visa Inc., has continued witnessing a surge in transaction volumes as the globe recovers from COVID-19’s business and economic setbacks.
“We started the year on a strong momentum, and that has fueled the activities for this quarter,” said Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach during a meeting with equity analysts to table the firm’s Q2 performance.
The comeback is imminent as domestic spending recoups in most of Mastercard’s international markets and overseas CNP volume remains strong, Miebach said.
Also, with customers and commercial travelers more willing to board airplanes and shelter in hotels, “we are well placed to make the most of travel,” he explained.
Mastercard hinted at a promising future for many of its newly-launched projects anticipated to explode in the future. Most conspicuous among them are crypto, open banking 5G capabilities.
But for the moment, Mr. Miebach foresees ongoing challenges as customers resume their spending habits.
Perhaps the biggest concern is the card sector’s heated discussion, particularly an upcoming cohort of merchants pushing for tweaks to the decade-old Durbin Amendment.
For instance, retailers want more control over payment processes, and opinions are divided over just how much control they should be offered. While some want to regulate debit acceptance costs, others maintain that the cost control privileges should also cover credit cards.
“To stay on top of everything, we have established firm relationships with the administration and lawmakers,” Miebach confirmed. “We are tracking all events as they unfold.”
The Durbin Amendment is a stumbling block for debit cards, according to the Mastercard CEO. Since its implementation, debits have recorded increased costs and reduced benefits. Meiback confirmed that Mastercard has been forwarding all the data on debit performance to lawmakers.
He also expressed concerns that the card industry will be impacted negatively if the same happens to credit cards,
In particular, the payment firm is optimistic about its initiative to begin processing stablecoins—a cryptocurrency with a value pegged to fiat currencies, e.g., the dollar— through its network. Mastercard is so determined to go that last week it ran an experiment to test the conversion of crypto to stablecoins. Ultimately, the firm plans to release new crypto-backed cards to be used on its platform.
Author Bio: Payment industry guru Taylor Cole is a passionate payments expert who understands the complex world of Mastercard payments. He also writes non-fiction on subjects ranging from personal finance to stocks to Cryptopay. He enjoys eating pie with ice cream on his backyard porch, as should all right-thinking people.
