Mastercard (NYSE: MA) announced on Tuesday has teamed up with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) for digital commerce innovation push. According to the duo, this new collaboration will accelerate Mastercard Labs’ native research and development activities, as well as Azure and AI, to advance Mastercard Labs’ mission to de-risk and commercialize emerging technologies and platforms for digital commerce.
Ken Moore, Executive Vice President and Head of Mastercard Labs, stated that the partnership will strengthen and extend the Labs’ cloud services and capabilities for client and fintech partners.
“[The partnership] will enable us to explore opportunities focused on new client segments, technologies and trends as we continue to drive financial inclusion and build the future of commerce.”
Judson Althoff, Executive Vice President of Microsoft’s Worldwide Commercial Business, also commented:
“Mastercard’s commitment to innovation and financial inclusion has accelerated digital commerce for individuals and businesses around the world. We look forward to building on our strong relationship and accelerating co-innovation to help connect and power a digital economy for everyone, everywhere.”
The duo went on to add that capitalizing on Mastercard’s global network and leveraging Azure’s global reach, the collaboration will enable Mastercard’s ecosystem of partners to explore the use of emerging innovations and new commerce capabilities such as devices that enable digital payments in new ways.