Mastercard has entered into battle with digital wallet rivals Paypal and Visa’s V.me with the launch of its Masterpass service in the UK.
Like its rivals the service allows customers to link Mastercard and other credit and debit details to an account so that simple one touch payments can be activated at online retailers, or via a smartphone or tablet device at High Street outlets.
Marion King, president of Mastercard UK and Ireland, said: "For retailers, Masterpass provides a faster, easier way to check out their customers, and increase sales without significantly changing the way they currently process payments.
“Masterpass can help retailers reduce checkout abandonment rates, which affected 37 per cent of all online transactions in the first quarter of 2013, equating to more than £6 billion in much needed revenue per year according to IMRG and Capgemini. UK consumers spend more than £62 billion a year online.”
The service is already available in the US, Australia and Canada.