MasterCard made two announcements Monday at the annual Mobile World Congress in Spain that are intended to create better digital payments experiences for consumers while helping merchants keep pace with new technology developments.
MasterCard said its new partnership with software company Oracle will focus on three needs for restaurants, hotels and retail stores: The in-store experience for consumers, merchant operational efficiencies and what it calls cross-channel consistency.
One way MasterCard will help merchants develop and scale in-store experiences is through Qkr! with Masterpass, the card network’s mobile order-ahead and payment platform.
MasterCard also announced Monday it expanded Qkr’s availability to six new markets: Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa and the U.S.
Qkr already was active in Australia, Colombia, Mexico and the U.K. and is being used at quick-service fast-casual restaurants such as wagamama, Juan Valdez, ASK Italian, Young’s Pubs, Zizzi, and Change Please, a mobile coffee-delivery social project run by the homeless in London, according to a press release.