MasterCard links MasterPass to Android Pay, Samsung Pay, Microsoft Wallet to let cardholders more easily complete purchases online using device authentication
Context & Ripple Effects
MasterCard has been rebuilding Masterpass from a checkout button into a cross-device credential: this summer it expanded Masterpass into in-store payments on Android in the US and opened an API for banks and partners. Today's move closes the loop on the other side — instead of pushing its own app, MasterCard is wiring Masterpass into the wallets people already carry: Android Pay, Samsung Pay, and Microsoft Wallet.
The Samsung connection is the deepest of the three. It follows a 2015 extension of the MasterCard-Samsung partnership to Europe, and Samsung itself has flagged online MasterPass purchases among its upcoming Samsung Pay features, alongside location-based coupons and in-app buying.
First-order effects
- Cardholders holding MasterCard credentials in Android Pay, Samsung Pay, or Microsoft Wallet can now complete online purchases authenticated by their device rather than re-entering card details — the friction point Masterpass was built to remove moves onto third-party wallets.
- Samsung Pay's roadmap item for online MasterPass checkout becomes concrete, extending the wallet beyond in-store tap-to-pay where its MST advantage mattered most.
Second-order effects
- Banks and partners with access to MasterCard's Masterpass API gain a distribution shortcut: their cards ride along inside rival wallets rather than needing their own apps, shifting the integration burden from issuers to the network.
- PayPal, whose Here reader already accepts Android Pay alongside EMV, faces a network brand competing at both ends of checkout — in-store acceptance and online authentication — rather than just issuing plastic.
Third-order effects
- If MasterCard keeps decoupling Masterpass from any single app, the network's role shifts from owning the wallet to supplying the tokenized credential underneath whatever wallet wins — consistent with its stated push toward payments on smart rings, car keys, and other gadgets.
- Wallet interoperability of this kind pressures the industry toward device authentication as the default online checkout standard, with networks competing on reach across devices rather than on branded apps.
The trend: Payment networks are repositioning from proprietary wallet apps to embedded, device-authenticated credentials distributed through whichever wallet or gadget the consumer already uses.