Mastercard for Easier EMV Migration
Last Friday, MasterCard Incorporated (MA) pronounced its decision to provide other U.S. debit networks with the some of the payment technology solutions owned by the company. MasterCard took such a step to support the prevalent trend of acceptance of EMV solutions, where EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa.
Through this deal the company will allow debit networks, merchants, acquirers and processors to have access to MasterCard’s market-ready EMV solution. As a result financial institutions can start issuing EMV cards immediately. This would save precious time for these institutions which otherwise would have to strive for new standards.
MasterCard will open this technology by allowing all debit networks within the United States to use their brand name for the payments processed through Maestro AID (application identifier).
MasterCard has been undertaking deals for some time now to promote electronic payment solutions in the U.S. Through this current move, the company aims to reduce chip entry costs and complications in implementing EMV. As a result merchants and acquirers will be able to maximize their investments and select their debit networks. This will give them an upper hand in the contemporary processing system where migration to EMV cards is much in vogue.
Earlier in December 2012, MasterCard joined hands with mobile wallet and transactions platform provider C-SAM to deliver mobile commerce solutions to customers globally.
MasterCard is expected to release its fourth-quarter and full year 2012 earnings results on Jan 31. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fourth quarter of 2012 is pegged at $4.79, up 18.9% year over year. Earnings for the full year 2012 are expected at $21.99, up 17.6 % year over year.
Earlier this month, Discover Financial Services (DFS) launched the new Cadence Bank Debit Card through its alliance with Birmingham-based Cadence Bank. Through this alliance, Discover Debit will provide network support to the Cadence debit card holders in the second quarter of the year.
MasterCard carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Payment processors Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) and Global Payments Inc. (GPN) carry a favorable Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and are worth noting.
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