Mastercard has announced a new service that will save its customers from possible fraud and headaches. The company made the announcement at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on Tuesday.
The service that is currently in pilot-phase will be delivered in partnership with mobile solutions company Syniverse. The opt-in solution will make use of geolocation technology and only let Mastercard transactions push through if card holders have their mobile phones switched on while traveling abroad.
"This collaboration of two global technology leaders opens up a whole new range of possibilities for end users, ensuring a seamless payment and mobile experience. By leveraging the speed and intelligence of our global network and combining it with geolocation solutions, we are enabling your MasterCard to uniquely work where you and your phone are, anywhere in the world," said Mastercard president for global strategic alliances Hany Fam.
The aim of the new service is to avoid frustrating scenarios for account holders when their cards are declined when they fail to notify their provider that they are traveling out of the country and so the system starts seeing the transactions as suspicious or fraudulent transaction. It can also become a tool for financial institutions to provide a more efficient service by making the right and properly guided decision to allow a transaction of their customers.
Mastercard processes about 65,000 transactions any given minute for the spending of its card holders numbering almost two billion.
"The next growth phase of mobile is through the expansion of the diverse players within the ecosystem, and Syniverse's unique position in the ecosystem allows us to serve as the mobile bridge. We continue to grow our long tradition of commitment to mobile operators, and this collaboration with the world's leading brands will build new opportunities, resulting in more powerful mobile experiences for end users, new revenue opportunities for mobile operators and strengthened brand loyalty for all," said Syniverse CEO Jeff Gordon.
The collaborating companies might also throw in data packages for those who opt-in for the service especially as most users turn off mobile data functions when traveling abroad in order to avoid nightmarish roaming charges.
While the plan might trigger protests from privacy advocates, the partnership sees the service benefiting brands who want to utilize geolocation information to send out relevant offers to their customers.
The current move might be in line with the latest guidelines of the federal government that calls on critical infrastructure providers to beef up their cybersecurity. The vulnerability of payment systems was put on spotlight following the credit data hack of retail giant Target that affected 70 million credit card and debit card holders, one of the largest attacks documented so far. Following the said attack, the FBI has issued reports and warnings for possible breaches of credit card systems in the future.
