(5 February 2026 – Global) Mastercard is leaning into tokenisation and AI agents to reduce transaction friction as future payments becoming increasingly automated.
The company is developing a system where customers rarely enter payment details using a model that relies on technology and consumer trust, similar to how Grab rides automatically charges eWallets or cards.
In India, as digital payments and AI-driven commerce accelerate, Mastercard is working closely with local partners to ensure that intelligent transactions are secure and seamless as well as accountable and transparent.
“Where issuers have adopted solutions like tokenisation, biometric authentication, and passkeys, chargebacks have dropped significantly. Australia, for one, has seen notable declines in fraudulent disputes. Our First-Party Trust Program also helps issuers and merchants confirm cardholder identity and spot first-party fraud, improving approval rates for genuine transactions” commented Mastercard Executive VP APAC Services, Matthew Driver.
“Whilst the technology is very exciting, the hard work in this framework is to make sure that the consumer is protected through the entire system.”
“Payments are becoming a patchwork of digital and smart assets that need open systems to work across platforms and countries. Mastercard aims to connect these systems whilst keeping consent and interoperability in place.”
“For us, it’s making sure that we provide the interoperability across systems and that we’re able to leverage the trust that comes with our brand. There are partners that bring a technology or application which, combined with your own capabilities, creates a better solution for customers or a segment.”