MasterCard’s MasterPass Tackles In-App Payments

MasterCard is expanding its MasterPass payment platform to include support for in-app purchases.

MasterPass stores a consumer’s payment details allowing for a one-size-fits-all solution for everything from online retail to mobile payments.

What started as a browser-based checkout solution, now allows for one-touch purchases through applications, which might be a major driver in enhancing user security.

Instead of trusting each and every individual app with payment details, applications with the MasterPass API can give consumers some piece of mind that they don’t necessarily have to trust any new app that comes around.

MasterCard’s announcement noted that in-app purchases will be a $46 billion industry by 2016, and that the average mobile device user downloads 26 apps on average, globally.

There is a clear opportunity here to capture not only the growing in-app marketplace, but to also provide an easier and more secure checkout process across devices and retail experiences.

MasterCard has also agreed to acquire C-SAM, the company providing the technology fueling the ISIS mobile wallet on Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile networks in the U.S.

C-SAM may bolster MasterCard’s mobile efforts including MasterPass with its wide range of support for banking, loyalty rewards, and secure payments.

While app-developers traditionally provide digital content through their respective app stores (iTunes App Store, Google Play), MasterPass could take a bite out of these marketplaces by undercutting the transaction fees that developers pay currently.