[MWC 2013] It looks as though VISA isn’t the only credit card company that has something to announce during Mobile World Congress this week as MasterCard is crashing their announcement party with one of their own. And as you would expect, their news is related to mobile payments.
MasterCard is announcing its MasterPass service this week, which can offer its users the ability to scan barcodes of merchandise they wish to purchase and do just that, all from their mobile device. MasterPass isn’t a standalone application, instead its a service retailers could build into their applications to add its functionality.
Barcodes aren’t the only scanning method MasterPass recognizes as QR codes and NFC tags are also recognized with the service along with the ability to input gift cards, debit cards and additional methods of store credit within the supported application.
What this ultimately means for you MasterCard card holders is you’ll be able to walk into a store, fire up the retailers application on your phone, purchase the products you want, and then show proof of your purchase on your way out so you don’t get tasered. And isn’t that something we all want from our shopping experiences these days?