Mastercard

Indian consumers and businesses would be best served if New Delhi confined itself to discrete interventions to reduce structural barriers to payments competition, rather than imposing price controls, dispensing subsidies and promoting national favorites, says Eric Grover, a principal at Intrepid Ventures.

Elavon will work with Mastercard and its Brighterion AI unit to battle payment card fraud, the companies said in a Tuesday press release.

The U.S. card brands are already pushing Indian regulators to relax their data storage rules, and a new quirk in the country’s tax code creates a battle on an entirely different front.

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.