PURCHASE, N.Y.—Mastercard believes there is a strong role for blockchain in the future of commerce.
“We will be providing access to this technology on a on a case-by-case basis through two blockchain APIs published on Mastercard Developers,” said Chaiti Sen business leader, worldwide communications, Mastercard.
The Mastercard blockchain APIs:
- Blockchain Core API – Enables partners to run their own blockchain nodes, define their own transaction types, and manage their participation in a blockchain network.
- Smart Contracts API – Enables partners to write custom scripts using Mastercard Smart Contract language for use in their custom blockchain applications.
“The Mastercard blockchain API is part of our ‘new and experimental’ API category published earlier this fall,” Sen explained. “This gives developers the chance to work on emerging technologies that haven’t yet been commercialized.”
She said these APIs will help financial institutions, merchants, and technology companies to build new applications, enhance and scale their businesses and to reach new sets of customers around the world.
“As we continue to focus on driving and developing new innovations like blockchain, Mastercard Labs, our research and development division, is exploring and building assets in this space,” explained Sen. “It has expanded its patent portfolio to protect the company’s thinking, innovations and intellectual property and has filed for more than 30 patents related to blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. We are also working very closely with startups in the Mastercard Start Path Global program on broader initiatives in this space.”
Mastercard Start Path partners with a diverse set of companies – from fintech to retail to security to big data and beyond to help business thrive and reach new opportunities, Sen said.