MasterCard is promoting a new mPayment solution to golf fans. Spectators at The Barclays, a part of the FedExCup Playoff round of tournaments, will be able to buy food and drinks from the clubhouse or on the course via their mobile devices.
The mPayments are being enabled via Qkr!, an app available on Android and iOS devices that features MasterCard’s digital wallet, called MasterPass. The digital wallet platform is currently available in 24 countries, and its promotion at The Barclays is part of an ongoing partnership between MasterCard and the PGA TOUR that has also seen its NFC payment solutions demonstrated at the Waste Management Phoenix Open back in January. Explaining the rationale behind the partnership in a statement, MasterCard executive Matt Barr pointed to the opportunity to highlight the convenience of mPayments. “At a tournament, no one wants to miss seeing their favorite golfer because they were waiting in line to buy a drink or a snack,” he said, adding that MasterPass, via the Qkr! app, is “enhancing the fan experience by letting fans tap or click to pay—more quickly and more securely—so they can get back to enjoying the action on the course.”
As mPayment systems like Apple Pay have emerged to dominate the nascent mobile payments market, traditional credit card companies and financial institutions have kept a keen eye on its rise, and are increasingly eager to get in on the action with their own solutions. It isn’t clear that the MasterPass solution is any more convenient to use than Apple Pay, but MasterCard has demonstrated a strong interest in advanced security measures that are quickly becoming necessary to safeguard mobile payment data, and that commitment to security could go some way in convincing users who are new to mPayments to give them a try – via MasterPass, of course.
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