Masterpass

What Masterpass does

Mastercard Click to Pay, formerly branded as Masterpass, is a consumer-facing online checkout service operated by Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA), the global payments technology company founded in 1966. The service enables online consumers to complete purchases without manually entering card details or passwords by leveraging encrypted virtual card numbers and one-time enrollment. Built on Mastercard's core payments infrastructure, Click to Pay incorporates bot detection, zero liability protection, and optional identity theft protection delivered through a partnership with Generali Global Assistance, Inc. Click to Pay was launched in 2020 as part of Mastercard's broader digital payments strategy and is licensed to use the industry-standard icon specification owned by EMVCo, LLC.

The product serves two primary customer segments: online consumers seeking faster, more secure checkout experiences, and online merchants looking to reduce cart abandonment through streamlined authentication. Distribution is achieved through three primary channels — direct consumer enrollment via Mastercard's website, merchant integration of the Click to Pay icon at online checkout pages, and enablement by card-issuing financial institutions. There is no direct consumer pricing; the service is free for Mastercard cardholders, and Mastercard monetizes Click to Pay through transaction fees charged to merchants as part of standard payment processing on its network. Mastercard's broader consumer payments portfolio includes complementary offerings such as contactless payments, payment passkeys, and the Digital First card program.

Click to Pay operates globally with a presence across North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Eastern Europe/Middle East/Africa, and Latin America, leveraging Mastercard's existing merchant and issuer infrastructure. Customer support is delivered through phone (1-833-271-9871) and email ([email protected]), and marketing is primarily driven through the Mastercard website, educational content, and the icon's presence at participating retailer checkouts. As a sub-product of Mastercard Incorporated, Click to Pay revenue is not separately disclosed in the source material.

Name

Masterpass

Legal name

Mastercard Incorporated

Website

https://masterpass.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Mastercard Click to Pay (formerly Masterpass) is Mastercard Incorporated's consumer-facing online checkout service that uses encrypted virtual card numbers to enable password-free, secure purchases at participating merchants across global markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Payments

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232)

akta.pro primary industry

General-Purpose Credit Card Schemes (FSAMAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Recurring Billing, Subscriptions & Tokenized Payments (CRAFALAH), Card Clearing & Settlement (Interchange, Network Settlement) (FSABAJAJ)

Keywords

• Digital checkout service
• Online payment platform
• Card tokenization technology
• Secure e-commerce checkout
• Virtual card numbers

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Transaction Processing Fees: Masterpass generates revenue through transaction fees charged to merchants for each Click to Pay checkout processed through the Mastercard network. This is part of the broader Mastercard payment network revenue model.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Masterpass (marketed today as Mastercard Click to Pay) is Mastercard's consumer digital-wallet and online checkout service that stores Mastercard credentials and lets cardholders complete purchases at participating merchants without re-entering card details or passwords. The product secures each transaction through encrypted payment information, virtual card-number tokenization, and bot detection, and is delivered as the Click to Pay icon embedded at merchant checkout pages globally.

Product overview

Mastercard Click to Pay is a unified consumer-facing online checkout product that eliminates the need to manually enter card details or remember passwords. It is built on encrypted virtual card number technology and integrates bot detection for security. The product functions as a direct consumer solution available through participating merchants, representing a single streamlined payment authentication experience within the broader Mastercard payments ecosystem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mastercard Click to Pay (Masterpass) A secure online payment solution that lets consumers store Mastercard credentials once and complete purchases at participating merchants without re-entering card details or passwords, using encrypted virtual card numbers, bot detection, and Zero Liability protection. Available to Mastercard cardholders globally and embedded at merchant checkouts via the Click to Pay icon (EMVCo trademark).

Quantifiable outcome

• Consumers can checkout faster without entering card details or passwords

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• EMVCo, LLCcoreTechnology or IntegrationEMVCo, LLC is the owner of the Click to Pay icon trademark, which Mastercard uses under permission. EMVCo manages technical standards for payment technologies including the Click to Pay specification.
• Generali Global Assistance, Inc.supportingTechnology or IntegrationGenerali Global Assistance provides the Mastercard ID Theft Protection service that is available to Click to Pay enrolled cardholders. Cardholders need to register for this service which provides identity theft protection benefits.

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Adyen: Global payment processor serving enterprise merchants with unified online and in-person checkout. Competes for merchant checkout decisions that determine whether Click to Pay (or alternatives) gets surfaced at the point of sale.
• Stripe: Large-scale online payments platform serving merchants with checkout APIs and fraud tooling. Adjacent rather than directly competitive, but influences the same merchants' checkout roadmap and could embed competing password-free experiences.
• Block (Square): Payments and commerce platform with online checkout, wallet, and merchant services. Competes in the broader online checkout ecosystem and could bundle wallet-based experiences that rival Click to Pay.

Direct peers

• PayPal: Dominant online checkout wallet with pre-stored payment credentials and broad merchant acceptance. Competes with Click to Pay for the same online checkout moment and target consumer pain points (friction, password fatigue, security).
• American Express: Global card network with its own online checkout offering for Amex cardholders. Competes with Mastercard Click to Pay for online transaction share and brings comparable brand recognition and premium-cardholder positioning.
• Apple Pay: Apple's digital wallet for online and in-app checkout using biometric authentication and stored cards. Targets the same password-free online checkout use case as Click to Pay and competes directly at participating e-commerce merchants.
• Amazon Pay: Amazon's online checkout wallet leveraging stored Amazon credentials at third-party merchants. Competes for the same online checkout conversion objective with a different funding and authentication model.
• Discover Click to Pay: Discover's implementation of the EMVCo Click to Pay standard for Discover cardholders. Offers a near-identical password-free checkout experience, competing for the same online merchants and cardholders.
• Visa Click to Pay: Visa's competing implementation of the EMVCo Click to Pay standard, offering the same password-free online checkout experience to Visa cardholders at participating merchants. Directly comparable product, customer base and merchant integration model.
• Google Pay: Google's digital wallet offering stored-card online checkout across web and Android. Competes head-on with Click to Pay for online checkout conversion and consumer enrollment at participating merchants.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mastercardnews
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/MasterCard
• Facebookfacebook.com/MasterCardUS?brand_redir=1
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mastercard

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Masterpass