MasterCard International launched the
MasterCard e-wallet — an electronic wallet service designed to simplify
online shopping.
The new e-wallet service will be promoted in a national television commercial
to be
aired today during NBC’s coverage of the 2000 Major League Baseball All-Star
Game.
MasterCard said the e-wallet allows cardholders to enter and store their
MasterCard credit card account number, as well as their shipping and billing
addresses, once. The wallet can then be used to automatically complete order
forms with a single click at more than 1,400 online stores.
The MasterCard e-wallet, provided by Brodia (financial arrangements between the
companies were not disclosed), offers password management, product research
and price comparisons, automatic form fill and transaction record maintenance.
MasterCard said its e-wallet also gives consumers the ability to block
unwanted e-mail and to receive only the types of offers that match their
interests. The service also provides a directory listing thousands of
merchants and service providers by category and allows consumers to create
their own collection of favorite stores.
Sign-ups for the MasterCard e-wallet are free at the company’s Web site. In
addition to the MasterCard e-wallet, consumers who visit mastercard.com will
also have the ability to access electronic wallets offered by a number of
MasterCard member banks.
“Shopping online is largely about speed and convenience, but often consumers
are left frustrated by the final step — completing the purchase order form,”
said Larry Flanagan, senior vice president, North America marketing at
MasterCard.
“Research indicates that many online users abandon the checkout
form prior to completing the transaction, in part due to the redundancy of
providing the information each time they make a purchase. As ‘the best way to
pay,’ MasterCard is addressing this issue by offering cardholders a solution.”
MasterCard said its recent research shows that nearly 63 percent of online
users have abandoned the checkout form prior to completing a transaction at
least once in a three-month period and 38 percent claimed it simply took too
long to complete a purchase.
Brodia markets the technology and infrastructure needed to deliver the online
form of the payment card, enabling simplified personal commerce from any
Internet-connected device. The company has partnerships with financial
institutions that represent more than 100 million credit card and online
banking customers.
