MasterCard makes moves to be 'Everywhere' in the UK

A new partnership between Everything Everywhere and MasterCard could boost mobile payments in Europe

In the race to be relevant in the mobile payment environment, MasterCard penned a five-year deal with Everything Everywhere, the joint venture between France Telecom’s Orange and T-Mobile, to develop mobile payment solutions, NFC payments in the UK. This is the largest mobile/NFC deal in the country and will cover 27 million subscribers.

This news comes as many are still talking about MasterCard's other recent partnership with Deutsche Telekom covering Germany and other T-Mobile operations in Europe. 

Over the past three years, MasterCard has with Orange on QuickTap, the first commercial NFC payment service in the UK, as well as the Orange Cash prepaid card and it appears that this system will be central to the partnership between Everything Everywhere and MasterCard. Orange Cash, which is currently a prepaid MasterCard, will then become an on-device option for Everything Everywhere customers who would like to use their cash equivalent when paying for items. I

“By moving our existing co-branded card offers onto mobile devices, we are closer to a world where our customers will be able to use their phone to pay for travel to work, pay for small purchases and take advantage of loyalty rewards from their favorite retail outlets,” Gerry McQuade, CMO at Everything Everywhere, said in a statement.

Competitors like Square, iZettle and PayPal have also set their sites on retail companies, small businesses, and multiple ways to pay.

“MasterCard’s vision is of a world beyond cash, where consumers and small businesses alike can benefit from simple payments using smart technology,” said Marion King, President of MasterCard UK & Ireland, in a statement.

MasterCard already has 100,000 retailers equipped to take contactless payments in the UK and last year (in the UK and France) Orange sold roughly 500,000 NFC-equipped devices.

Just a week after Square announced that it secured Starbucks as a client for its mobile-phone based payment service, PayPal announced that it was in the early stages signing a deal with McDonald's.

McDonald's is currently testing a version of PayPal's mobile payment system in 30 of its restaurants in France.

As PayPal clamors to fight the strengthening hand of Square, many wonder what the future will look like if the mobile payment market becomes highly fragmented.  

When Square struck a world's largest coffee chain last week, the company showed its ability to translate a small business aid into a tool that can improve efficiency and customer retention by offering a new and easier way to pay. Now it looks like PayPal could get the same perk, but from the world's largest hamburger chain.

PayPal already signed up more than 15 retailers, including Home Depot and Office Depot, to use its service in their stores but McDonald's comes with more than 30,000 restaurants, compared to the 7,000 stores snagged by the Starbucks deal.

Electronic payment is a market that is growing fast, and many companies are trying to get into it early on. A report earlier this year found that a vast majority, around 65%, of experts agreed that smartphone payments would be mainstream by the end of this decade.  

Gartner predicts that by 2016, mobile payments will reach $617 billion worldwide, up from $105 billion last year.  By that point, Gartner forecasts that smartphones will account for two-thirds of all phones.  Mobile payments this year are expected to reach $171.5 billion—a 60% increase over last year.

Credit card processing fees generate some $40 billion a year for major banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.

Just days after reports emerged that McDonalds is testing out a mobile payment offering via PayPal that would allow customers to pay with their phone, PayPal is breaking through an even bigger wall: actual credit card companies.  PayPal announced that it is partnering with Discover to allow any merchant to begin accepting mobile payments.  

The partnership will extend the potential for mobile payments via PayPal to some seven million U.S. merchants who currently accept Discover card payments.  And if all goes well, the new partnership could extend to the millions of merchants around the world who accept Discover.

PayPal currently has over 113 million active users worldwide, some 50 million of whom are in the U.S.

Discover has been making a lot of headway in the mobile payments game this year. 

PayPal has partnered with a handful of brick-and-mortar stores to bring in-store checkout to its customers, including Home Deport, Hollister, and Abercrombie & Fitch.