Mastercard

Mastercard, as one of the major global card networks, connects approximately 3.5 billion cards and 150 million merchant locations in over 220 countries and regions. With consumer payment scenarios expanding from physical retail and online shopping platforms to various mobile applications, Mastercard has extended its payment support to emerging channels such as food delivery services and digital wallets, serving more than 250 million merchants. In 2024, Mastercard processed more than 159 billion transactions, driving global business connectivity through efficient and secure payment services.

In key consumer scenarios such as physical retail and e-commerce, card payments (including credit and debit cards) remain the dominant payment method. Within the e-commerce sector in particular, the usage rate of credit cards is typically slightly higher than that of debit cards, with the two forming a complementary relationship that offers users both payment convenience and financial flexibility. As of 2024, Mastercard holds approximately 25% of the global card market. Together with Visa, Mastercard is one of the most widely used brands in the international card market, and merchants commonly integrate both networks to maximise consumer coverage. Over the years, Mastercard has consistently maintained a second largest share in the North American market, behind Visa, and performs particularly well in certain markets, including those within the European Economic Area. In countries such as the Netherlands and Sweden, Mastercard has a market share of 87% and 71%, respectively.

With the ongoing evolution of digital technology, individuals and businesses worldwide are becoming increasingly engaged in the digital economy. This shift has raised expectations around trust, ease of use, and the overall smoothness of payment experiences. In response, Mastercard has announced plans to launch a new payment system by 2030 that combines tokenisation, biometric authentication, and Click to Pay digital wallet technology, with the aim of making online payments as seamless as those made offline. Once the system is implemented, consumers will no longer need to manually enter card details, payment passwords, or one-time verification codes to complete online authentication and payments.

Properties

The following table lists the product properties supported by Mastercard:

[1] Partial capture is conditional and requires additional approval to be enabled.

[2] Partial refund is conditional and requires additional approval to be enabled.

User experience

This section shows the user experience of Mastercard in different scenarios:

API integration

This section shows the difference in user experience between those PCI and non-PCI qualified under the API integration.

PCI qualified

This section shows the difference between the first-time and subsequent payments under the PCI qualified.

First-time payment

This section shows the difference between Web and app when making the first-time payment under the PCI qualified.

Web

App

Subsequent payments

This section shows the difference between Web and app when making the subsequent payments under the PCI qualified.

Web

App

Non-PCI qualified

This section shows the difference between the first-time and subsequent payments under the non-PCI qualified.

First-time payment

This section shows the difference between Web and app when making the first-time payment under the non-PCI qualified.

Web

App

Subsequent payments

This section shows the difference between Web and app when making the subsequent payments under the non-PCI qualified.

Web

App

SDK integration

This section shows the difference between the first-time and subsequent payments under the SDK integration.

First-time payment

This section shows the difference between Web and app when making the first-time payment under the SDK integration.

Web

App

Subsequent payments

This section shows the difference between Web and app when making the subsequent payments under the SDK integration.

Web

App

FAQs

1. How can Mastercard help you address security challenges?

Mastercard effectively reduces fraud and ensures payment security through technologies such as 3DS authentication and network tokenisation. It has also rolled out a broad suite of trust and security solutions, including tokenisation, Payment Passkeys, and AI-driven verification, to enhance transaction protection while improving payment control and convenience.

As cybercriminals increasingly use generative AI to create deepfake videos and phishing messages, Mastercard has responded using AI technology as well. Its Decision Intelligence Pro can analyse up to one trillion data points and assess transaction authenticity in under 50 milliseconds, boosting fraud detection rates by an average of 20% and as high as 300% in some instances.

In the UK, Mastercard's Consumer Fraud Risk solution applies AI at the authorisation stage to identify fraudulent activity in real time, allowing suspicious transactions to be intercepted before funds are transferred and helping to protect users' assets.

2. What is Mastercard ID Check?

Mastercard ID Check is a service designed to enhance the security of Mastercard network payments. It adds an extra layer of verification by requiring cardholders to provide a unique verification code during the transaction process, effectively mitigating the risk of unauthorised card use.

3. What is the Interchange++ pricing model?

Interchange++ is a highly transparent payment pricing model. This model accurately tracks the interchange fees and card network settlement fees incurred for each transaction and allows for cost pre-estimation before the payment is completed. With this precise, transaction-level pricing model, merchants can clearly understand the actual cost breakdown for each payment.

4. Does Antom charge an initial system fee or monthly service fee?

Antom's basic acquiring products do not charge any system installation fees, monthly service fees, technical integration fees, or account cancellation fees. If you would like to learn more about specific service terms and fee structures, please contact our business team, who will provide a customised service description based on your business needs.