A first time appearance for Mastercard’s MasterPass in the UK

The already well-travelled MasterPass Wallet, previously launched in the USA, Canada and Australia, has just landed in Europe – first stop UK

MasterPass has connected with leading retail brands in the UK, like Boots, House of Frasier, Argos and others, to bring MasterCard Wallet access to UK stores and to the e-commerce facilities of their brands.

MasterPass brings consumers’ banks cards and shipping details into one place in order to simplify the payment experience with password authentication and a click. It offers e-commerce merchants the possibility of branding the wallet or connecting their own trademarked wallet to the MasterPass acceptance network as well as linking it to loyalty programs and other offers.

The e-wallet is a fast growing facility that is being produced by payment providers worldwide with many advantages for merchants who decide to offer wallet usage on their websites.

Like James Roper, Chief Executive of IMRG says: “Customers abandon online shopping baskets at the checkout for a number of reasons, such as lack of convenient delivery options or security certification, hidden charges, length of checkout process, or just because they are still browsing and want to ensure the price is complete with no ‘add-ons’. Digital wallets represent a major step forward in bringing down basket abandonment by offering the customer greatly enhanced speed, convenience, trust and certainty.”

On the other hand, should merchants be concerned that there are also some risks for their customers? Like, if all details are contained in a single place, what would be the result of password theft? Merchants are encouraged to ask all the right questions before buying into new payment products. These questions may be easily answered by the provider but make sure to ask anyway.