Digital wallets - let’s invent together

The digital payments race is creating new opportunities for our industry to provide consumers with a plethora of ways to pay.

We as an industry must do more to ensure that however a consumer wants to pay - be it online or mobile – that the experience is simple and convenient, and that their card information is safe and secure.

This isn’t about merely enabling digital transactions. I see a world where local innovators have the chance to reimagine commerce in new ways in their market. 

As commerce becomes increasingly digitised around the world, enabled by the explosion of connected devices, this industry must not ignore the fact that commerce is, in its purest form, a local phenomena.

In theory, there should be no reason that developers in, let’s say, Berlin, couldn’t create a digital wallet for their city. Developers should be encouraged to build a local wallet that has the benefits of being accepted anywhere in the world. 

This is a different approach from a global acceptance mark, because a hypothetical Berlin Wallet or Paris Wallet reflect their social and cultural nuances of their cities, without a developer having to create a separate payment platform or app for it. Localising wallets in this way would unleash more possibilities for consumers and how they interact with the specific infrastructures and businesses where they live.

Essentially, anyone who wants to operate a digital wallet, should be able to – whether they are a big player or the smallest start-up who wants to offer precise localisation.  Fees should not be an issue and there needs to be a consistent framework.

This is something that global networks should enable.  And that is what we at MasterCard will do, by globally expanding our digital wallet operator programme. The world is moving digital at speed but people still want the security they expect in the physical world.

I’m not the only one who believes that innovation should flourish locally in a consistent, secure and compliant way. The demand for localisation is there from consumers, as cash – and even plastic – is becoming increasingly less important.

We need to give innovators a secure way to handle card credentials, and a standard technology that helps them develop new and creative ways for commerce to thrive.

So while it’s up to the consumer to decide on their payment type or even digital wallet preferences, it is our job is to provide the tools for innovators to give them those choices.  Whoever you are, if you want to create a digital wallet, go and create one.