Global payment technology company MasterCard plans to introduce the payment solution Masterpass, through partnering banks and merchants, to the Latin American and Caribbean region — though already available in Brazil.

Masterpass, which was introduced by the company in 2014 as part of the MasterCard Digital Enablement Sevice (MDES), allows for easier and more secure payments “anytime, anywhere” using connected devices — laptops, smartphones, tablets, and even wearables such as smart watches.

“Given this changing landscape, over the past two years, we’ve focused on developing a secure platform to enable consumers to use their cards when, where and how they want. We’ve come up with a solution that supports the new digital ecosystem we live in today, called the MasterCard Digital Enablement Service — also known as ‘MDES’,” the company’s website states.

To guarantee security while using the application, and to ensure that customers’ accounts are not compromised, MDES enables a process called tokenisation.

According to the company’s website, “Tokenisation is the replacement of a consumer card’s primary account number (PAN) with an alternative card number. A token replaces the number on your card in each transaction. Because the token is different from the card number, your actual card details will never be shared for device-based transactions you make with your MasterCard.”

“Masterpass is a global digital wallet service that connects consumers with merchants, enabling them to make fast, simple, and secure digital payments across channels — online, in-app, and in-store — and across their devices… In markets where mobile contactless [transaction] is supported, consumers simply hold their device to the terminal to pay,” a representative of Mastercard Latin America and the Caribbean told the Jamaica Observer via email.

But using Masterpass does not eliminate the use of plastic cards, as MasterCard seeks to ensure that clients’ accounts are as digitised as they want. But the company is cognisant of predictions that by 2020, payments through mobile devices could represent between 20 and 30 per cent of consumer payments, including smart appliances.

The company, in a release sent to Caribbean Business Report, indicates that “demand from our customers (globally) has been extremely strong — with almost 700 issuers around the globe now connected to MDES”. This demand was amplified due to an agreement signed between MasterCard and rival payment technology company, Visa, to enable payments through the Visa Checkout, the latter’s equivalent to Masterpass.