Making payments using solar credits, enjoying a football match in a virtual reality stadium, scanning a product to understand the ethics of its supply chain.
These are just some of the next-generation technology propositions on display at the revamped Mastercard Experience Center (MEC) in Singapore. The refreshed facility services the company’s clients and partners across the Asia Pacific region, and is one of six MECs globally, with others located in London, Stockholm, Dubai, Mexico City and New York City.
The revitalization of the Singapore innovation space coincides with the release of Mastercard’s Future of Payments report which highlights three broad trends that have the potential to collectively expand prosperity and inclusion in the digital economy. Correspondingly, many of the innovation space’s new exhibits and technology demos bring these trends to life by blending the digital and physical across screens, tactile tables and lab spaces, creating an immersive, interactive experience for visitors.
1. TREND: Reimagining Money: The definition of money is expanding to include non-traditional assets such as data, cryptocurrencies, and digital goods, changing how people exchange value.
o DEMO: Universal Value Exchange: As the digitization of currencies and tokenization of assets and data expands current definitions of money, this demonstration focuses on how Mastercard supports the creation and exchange of value across multiple payment mediums.
2. TREND: Intelligent Experiences: Consumer journeys will be transformed as physical and digital environments converge and become more connected and intelligent, and deliver hyper-personalized experiences.
o DEMO: Mixed Reality Commerce: This exhibit demonstrates the potential of an enhanced digital ticket experience using virtual reality and augmented reality technology, in addition to other possibilities.
3. TREND: Sustainable Futures: Societal and environmental changes are going to have a significant impact on how companies are valued by their stakeholders, and move environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies from the boardroom into how products are designed, built and delivered.
o DEMO: Circular Economy: As technology facilitates more sustainable consumption, this display illustrates the possibilities of continuous product traceability - from sourcing to manufacturing, to retail to consumer - to encourage reuse and recycling.
“In the coming years, a convergence of forces will redefine and reshape commerce, transforming how people pay and get paid. The Mastercard Experience Center is designed as a portal to that future, a place where customers and partners can virtually experience that future today, and where we’re only limited by the power of our collective imaginations,” said Sandeep Malhotra, executive vice president, products & innovation, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. “By guiding visitors through the future economy, Mastercard aims to bring abstract concepts to life, to inspire purposeful innovation and co-creation of the technologies of tomorrow.”
The MEC in Singapore acts as a regional Asia Pacific hub for Mastercard to conduct customer workshops, executive roundtables and employee events. It also serves as an innovation space and R&D lab where consumer insights, needs and trends are identified, helping to inform white space, blue sky innovation and actionable product development roadmaps for the next 12-24 months.
Innovation Circuit
Another way that Mastercard is supporting customers in their innovation journeys is through Innovation Circuits. These newly launched workshops, conducted by Mastercard’s Asia Pacific Innovation & Customer Solutions team, explore exponential technologies - like virtual reality and artificial intelligence - to showcase next-gen consumer experiences that can be co-created with customers and partners in service of their constituents. The half-day sessions help teams to identify essential building blocks that will power their success in the future economy. Through the workshops, participants learn about the implications of swiftly advancing technologies, delve into bold new concepts, and experiment with innovative ideas, business models and solutions.