Mastercard opens fintech innovation lab in India
Mastercard has opened an innovation lab in Pune, India, its second in the Asia-Pacific region and ninth globally. The lab will collaborate with fintech firms, merchant partners and financial institutions to develop technologies covering digital payments, data solutions, financial inclusion, alternative payments and safety and security. The lab also aims to support start-ups working on next-generation technologies via Mastercard’s Start Path programme.

PUNE: Mastercard today announced the launch of its first Lab in India, which will work with partners in the fintech industry to identify and experiment with future technologies. Mastercard Labs , which has been set up in Pune, is the ninth such lab for the company globally, and the second in the Asia Pacific region.In a statement, the company said that Mastercard Labs will work with financial institutions and merchant partners and the fintech community to identify and experiment with future technologies in a few key areas including digital payments, data solutions, financial inclusion, alternative payments and safety and security. The Lab will also support and work with startups developing next generation, breakthrough commerce solutions through Mastercard’s Start Path program.“Learning, innovation, and collaboration cannot exist in isolation. The launch of the first Mastercard Labs in India is evidence of our commitment to designing solutions that drive commerce and create more inclusive societies around the world,” said Ken Moore, executive vice president, Mastercard Labs. By bringing together a team of passionate individuals from diverse cultures and disciplines, we seek to further accelerate and enhance our ability to launch innovations that help us improve the lives of everyday Indians and help them move closer to our vision of a world beyond cash.”The lab will drive innovation for Mastercard in India, through collaboration and co-creation with academia, fintech experts, technologists and developers based in India. It will identify and experiment with future technologies and drive new concepts and innovations through incubation, proof of concept, pilot and commercialization, in order to deliver additional value to consumers and businesses of India.“The Mastercard Labs in India provides a significant opportunity to highlight the country’s standing as a world-class innovation hub, renowned for its entrepreneurial spirit and growing pool of science, technology, engineering and mathematics talent,” said Tobias Puehse, Vice President, Mastercard Labs, Asia Pacific. “By establishing the new lab in Pune, we are looking to deepen our active collaborations with governments, issuers and businesses in India and revolutionize the market’s digital payments ecosystem to drive greater acceptance and adoption of electronic payments, not just in India but around the world.”Mastercard Labs is the latest in a series of collaborations the company has undertaken this year. It has worked with the National Payments Corporation of India ( NPCI ) and other payments brands to develop Bharat QR, the world’s first interoperable Quick Response (QR) code acceptance solution, as part of a national push to streamline local electronic payments infrastructure.