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Mastercard Unveils P2P Pilot for Crypto Credential Tool
MasterCard has introduced what it calls a “milestone” update to its Crypto Credential tool.
For the first time, the company announced Cryptocurrency exchange users will be able to send and receive cryptocurrencies with their crypto credential aliases on Wednesday (May 29), rather than relying on “typically long and complex blockchain addresses.”
These peer-to-peer (P2P) payments mark the first real-world application of the Mastercard Crypto Credential vision, which debuted last year, and represents “the potential to further expand and support the domestic and cross-border remittance market,” he said. the company said.
According to the release, the setup works by first verifying a user against Mastercard cryptographic credential standards.
From there, the user gets an alias to send and receive funds, with Mastercard Crypto Credential verifying the recipient’s alias when initiating a transfer, while also determining that the recipient’s wallet supports the digital asset and associated blockchain.
“If the receiving wallet does not support the asset or blockchain, the sender is notified and the transaction does not proceed, protecting all parties from the potential loss of funds,” Mastercard added.
The company introduced cryptographic credentials last April, saying it was designed to ensure that financial institutions, governments, brands and crypto organizations meet defined standards for the types of activities they would like to perform in Web3 environments.
“Building and scaling trusted ecosystems to enable commerce is nothing new for Mastercard,” Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of digital assets and blockchain products and partnerships at Mastercard, he said in a blog post.
“We’ve been doing this for years in the payments space – we’re pioneering innovation in identity verification and global standards. We look forward to bringing decades of experience to bear in this space to build trust and collaborate with wider industry and governments to enable further innovation.”
Meanwhile, PYMNTS recently wrote about demand for P2P payments among consumers, discovering that FinTechs, despite making progress on this front, still show room for improvement.
In “FinTech instant payments mismatch” A collaboration with Ingo Payments, PYMNTS Intelligence found that 47% of FinTechs allowed consumers to send P2P transfers while 41% allowed them to receive such transfers. This represented an increase of 10 percentage points for sending and 9 percentage points for receiving between the third quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of last year.
“This progression is great news for FinTechs because data shows that P2P transfers rank as the number one service consumers expect when using a FinTech provider,” PYMNTS wrote. “However, the report… also found that FinTechs would benefit from better aligning their services with the needs of their customers.”
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