Mastercard

Mastercard has closed its acquisition of cross-border payments provider Transfast, closing out a deal the card network announced in early March after dropping out of a bidding war with Visa for global payments company Earthport.

India’s soaring digital payments market has prompted Mastercard and Visa to increase their investments in India, targeting one of the world’s largest cash displacement opportunities while complying with local regulations such as expensive data store requirements.

Visa, Mastercard and PayPal may have magnified the biggest risk they face — tougher regulation — by becoming early backers for Libra, Facebook's new digital money.

As the global gig economy expands, more workers moving between the U.S. and other countries for jobs or school need ways to handle funds in different currencies.

Citigroup will be the first major issuer to use Mastercard technology to give U.S. credit card holders the ability to instantly redeem points on eligible purchases online and through a mobile app.

Libra has only been public for a few days, but it has been enough time for regulators around the world to savage the project and schedule hearings. Jorn Lambert, executive vice president of digital solutions for Mastercard, said the project's objectives are aligned with the regulators' concerns.

Community bank executives, payments officials and others said Libra faces an uphill battle amid heavy competition and regulatory scrutiny.

Facebook is focusing the initial discussions around its cryptocurrency project as a preemptive strike against the privacy and legal concerns the public and politicians have about the huge social network.

Mastercard is working with its banking partners to introduce True Name cards that will let customers use the name they want on their cards without requiring a legal name change.

PayPal and Mastercard are independently making high-profile moves to shore up gaps in open banking and data compliance, and both companies are downplaying any competitiveness.