Canada's Stack joins with Mastercard for mobile payment system
Canadian mobile banking system Stack is taking on traditional banks with an innovative partnership with Mastercard. The deal represents the first time that a digital money account will offer a tap-to-pay option in North America. It gives Stack's more than 20,000 registered users access to a chip-and-pin-enabled card that links directly to their digital money account. Customers can also access to several currencies, including cryptocurrencies, as well as free, value-added services including automated savings. Stack's system is currently in beta, with a release due in the coming weeks.

STACK, Mastercard Get Together on New Digital Money System

September 13, 2017 By: Steven Anderson

STACK’s plans to get in on the mobile banking industry have been pretty substantial so far. With a planned beta release in a couple weeks, and over 20,000 users registered so far, this Canadian mobile banking system is looking to take the market by storm. Now, it’s got one more reason to get users interested thanks to a new partnership with Mastercard.

The partnership effort will bring a kind of mobile payments component to the mobile banking app, giving users access to a chip-and-pin driven prepaid card from Mastercard that connects directly to STACK. That will give users access to a slate of retailers worldwide, as well as ATM networks and even measures of purchase protection.

This actually represents the first time in North America that a digital money account has offered users a tap-to-pay option, which makes it something of an achievement in its own right. Additionally, STACK users get access to a line of financial services—automated savings, social sharing and more—available without fees, giving it an edge over many brick-and-mortar institutions.

Users will have access to several different currencies, including cryptocurrency options, all from the same platform, which is noteworthy in and of itself given the growing interest in cryptocurrency as an investment platform.

Co-founder and current CEO of STACK Miro Pavletic commented “Partnering with Mastercard supports our mission to provide a better alternative to traditional financial services, without compromising convenience or reliability. Mastercard is a trusted technology expert in the payments industry, and we’re committed to working with the best of the best.”

A first-of-its-kind service is certainly worth paying attention to, and in this case, STACK is delivering plenty of value for its user base. It’s incorporating a growing new investment property, it’s effectively providing access to user’s money at any time of the day or night, and it’s doing all this without a lot of customer-facing fees. That might put some pressure on some banks, particularly with the millennial user who enjoys going mobile as much as possible.

This may not catch on like STACK would hope, but it’s got a noteworthy proposition going for it. It’s certainly got the millennial appeal to take some significant new ground, but it may need to open up its geographic area and its marketing to reach critical mass.