Citi Unveils 'Citi Wallet,' Built on MasterCard's MasterPass

Citigroup Inc. has begun signing up consumers to use Citi Wallet, which is based on MasterCard's MasterPass digital wallet.

The Citi Wallet allows cardholders to make purchases online without having to enter their payment, billing and shipping credentials. To use Citi Wallet, shoppers click on the MasterPass icon at checkout; then click on the Citi Wallet icon and enter the same login and password information they use for accessing their account at Citi.com. The user then returns to the merchant page to complete the order.

"As online spending continues to grow, we heard from our cardmembers that they want a faster way to make purchases online," said Barry Rodrigues, head of Citi enterprise payment solutions, in an August 25 press release. "Citi Wallet delivers this by reducing online checkout to just a couple clicks."

Citi has been a MasterPass partner since early 2013. The bank-branded wallet can be used at any MasterPass merchant.

Citi is the first global bank to introduce its own branded digital wallet in the U.S., the company says in the release. Citi Wallet is available to all Citi U.S. consumer credit cardholders.

MasterCard has been successful at advancing as a merchant services provider, and has recently added new functionality such as the ability to support in-app purchases. It competes with Visa Checkout, a recently rebranded digital wallet from Visa. PNC Bank said Visa Checkout, which was previously called V.me, has attracted more interest from consumers since it was relaunched.