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MasterCard Bringing Mobile Payment Service to Stores

Masterpass is already available for in-app payments or online retailers, but will now work in stores.

 & Tom Brant Managing Editor

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MasterCard is expanding Masterpass from online to in-store payments.

Masterpass is already available for in-app payments or online retailers, which typically provide a button in their shopping carts that allows shoppers to check out with the credit cards they've added to their Masterpass account. But now, the company is expanding to physical stores, where customers can use mobile phones to pay with Masterpass at the register, just as they would with offerings from Samsung, Apple, or Google.

In-store Masterpass is initially only available in the Android version of the app in the US, as iPhones currently only support Cupertino's own payment system.

As part of the contactless rollout, MasterCard is also enhancing functionality for Masterpass users who prefer to pay directly from their bank accounts. About 20 US banks—including Bank of America, Capital One, KeyBank, and SunTrust—will support Masterpass, so you can pay with MasterCard's service via your bank's app.

Masterpass arrives in the US later this month, and in Europe and the Middle East/Africa by year's end.

About Our Expert

Tom Brant

Tom Brant

Managing Editor

I’m a managing editor at PCMag.com focused on PC hardware. Reading this during the day? Then you've caught me testing gear and editing reviews of Wi-Fi routers, printers, laptops, and tons of other personal tech. (Reading this at night? Then I’m probably dreaming about all those cool products.) I’ve covered the consumer tech world as an editor, reporter, and analyst since 2015.

I've covered most major consumer tech events, including CES, Computex, Google I/O, and IFA. I've also appeared on CBS News, in USA Today, and at many other outlets to offer analysis on breaking technology news.

Before I joined the tech-journalism ranks, I wrote on topics as diverse as Borneo's rainforests, Middle Eastern airlines, and Big Data's role in presidential elections. A graduate of Middlebury College, I also have a master's degree in journalism and French Studies from New York University.

The Technology I Use

While most people buy a phone or laptop and stick with it for years, I’m lucky enough to use devices based on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows daily as part of my job. As a result, I cycle through lots of tech in addition to my IT-issue work laptop. (Yes, that's a ThinkPad.) Personally, I’ve also owned a lot of tech products both cutting-edge and cringeworthy, from the Nintendo GameCube and the original MacBook to the Palm m105 and the CueCat.

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