What's Next In

In the crypto economy, the last few years have been a period of innovation, experimentation and more than a little trepidation. The value of the crypto market skyrocketed to nearly $3 trillion before tumbling again; non-fungible tokens seemed to arrive out of nowhere to capture the imagination of artists, collectors and brands; and blockchain-based applications such as smart contracts began gaining traction.

During this time, Raj Dhamodharan has been leading the Mastercard’s efforts in the space as its global head of crypto and blockchain. He says Mastercard’s role is straightforward: enabling choice by bringing simplicity and safety to the crypto economy.  That may be through crypto card programs where people can instantly convert their crypto to pay at merchants who accept Mastercard, by making it easier for people to buy NFTs, or by helping crypto wallets and exchanges perform identity and fraud checks and understand their risk.

In the wide-ranging conversation with host Vicki Hyman, he also discusses the evolution of blockchain and crypto, the principles the company developed to evaluate crypto opportunities, and the role of regulation in helping the crypto economy realize its potential.

Data is more valuable than ever – which means, more than ever, it needs to be protected.

From the rise of open banking, which enables people to share their financial data to access more choice and better experiences, to the growing desire of companies across industries to harness data to make smarter decisions and create new revenue streams, data security is key.

In the latest episode of “What’s Next In,” Mastercard’s podcast that informally explores technology, innovation and ideas, host Vicki Hyman discusses the evolution of privacy-enhancing technologies with Bob Schukai, Mastercard’s executive vice president for Technology Development, Global Open Banking, and Ellison Anne Williams, the founder and CEO of Enveil, the cybersecurity startup that uses homomorphic encryption to secure data while it’s being used to allow companies to innovate while protecting and respecting individual privacy.

“Privacy-enhancing technologies enable a decentralized form of data usage, collaboration and monetization to be possible,” Williams says. “These technologies leave the data at the point of origination and enable usage of that data in a secure and private way without having to move or replicate it.”

Mastercard’s privacy by design principles ensure that privacy safeguards are built into the design and creation of everything the company does, Schukai says. “We believe that your personal information is just that, it’s personal and we try to take great care to ensure it stays that way.”

To hear more from Schukai and Anne, click play and enjoy!

Susan Warner and Abena Danso-Manu both developed a love for STEM from their mothers. Danso-Manu’s mother, a statistics professor in Ghana, and Warner’s mother, a self-taught bookkeeper, sparked a flame in their daughters that eventually connected them years later through Girls4Tech, the award-winning STEM education program that Warner founded in 2014. In the latest episode of “What’s Next In,” Mastercard’s podcast that informally explores technology, innovation and ideas, host Vicki Hyman sits down with Danso-Manu and Warner to discuss G4T, which has now reached more than 2 million girls in 50 countries.

The original goal was to engage our employees as role models and mentors in the subjects they’re most passionate about -- these can range from cryptology and algorithms to fraud detection, biometrics and Big Data. Danso-Manu recently spearheaded the first Girls4Tech program in West Africa, mentoring girls in her home country of Ghana, to reach, she says, another “little Abena.”

During the conversation, they detail the importance of female representation and perspectives, their personal journeys, and the visible impact of the program.

In the first episode our rebooted podcast, host Vicki Hyman chats with Fonta Gilliam of Wellthi and Dennis Cail of Zirtue in honor of Black History Month. They are both part of Mastercard's Start Path programming dedicated to supporting minority-owned startups that further efforts to close the racial wealth and opportunity gap.

Gilliam founded Wellthi, an app and white-label solution for financial institutions that modernize the concept of savings circles, enabling family and friends to encourage one another to reach their savings goals. Cail is the co-founder and CEO of Zirtue, a leading relationship-based lending app with a mission to drive financial inclusion. Recently, Zirtue launched a debit Mastercard card for the unbanked and underbanked, potentially removing financial barriers for millions of American families.

They discuss their mission to bring more financial security to underserved communities, the challenges Black fintech founders face and the worst advice they’ve ever received.  

For most people, the word franchise may conjure up an image of their favorite fast food outlet. But what it really mean? It means people know what to expect when they stop for a meal and can trust the franchise to deliver that experience.

Mastercard’s franchise model is no different (OK, hold the fries). Franchise creates, manages and maintains the Mastercard business model, setting the standards for our customers to create the common, consistent payment experience across the world – and, increasingly, so much more.

On the latest episode of "What's Next In," we chat with Chief Franchise Officer Paul Petta,  who explains why franchise is so important to our business strategy and key to the company’s growth beyond payments – from how we engage with fintechs to accepting new payment types to ways we can lend our expertise and technology to completely new areas, such as digital identity.

Hear from Petta about how he and his team not only tackle growing the existing Mastercard ecosystem but identify new opportunities for growth. We'll also learn about one of his personal passions and who'll play him in his biopic (hint: he lives in the John Hughes universe).

What comes with three billion cards with 90 billion transactions a year at roughly 70 million merchants in 210 countries and territories?

Data. A ton if it.  

On the latest episode of our podcast “What’s Next In,” Raj Seshadri, president, Data and Services, explains how Mastercard helps empower its customers with faster, better business decisions, all based on the company's real-time transaction data and proprietary analysis.

Hosted by Arthur Baker, each episode of “What’s Next In” informally explores big ideas and trends in the world of payments technology and beyond. In this episode, Seshadri and Baker chatted about her early aspirations of being a doctor, implications of doing business in a data-driven world and how a company like Mastercard can build better outcomes for not only customers but communities. 

From 5G to blockchain to quantum computing and more, emerging technologies have the potential to transform almost every aspect of our lives. Ken Moore, Mastercard’s chief innovation officer, is behind the company’s efforts to harness them in new ways, modernizing payments and transforming transactions.

On the latest episode of "What's Next In," Moore shares his thoughts on Mastercard's approach to innovation, risk-taking and collaboration. He discusses which emerging tech excites him the most, including the hot topic from CES this year, 5G: “It's ten times faster, responds ten times quicker and can support 300 times more simultaneously-connected products," he says. 

Hosted by Arthur Baker, each episode of "What's Next In" informally explores big ideas and trends in the world of payments technology and beyond.

Hear from Moore about how Mastercard accelerates emerging ideas to create more meaningful digital experiences in everything from 5G to blockchain to quantum computing and artificial intelligence. 

How a city looks is often different than how it functions, with even the most diverse and cosmopolitan urban centers struggling to bring the growth and extend the benefits of the digital economy to all of its citizens.

On the latest episode of “What’s Next In,” Miguel Gamiño Jr., head of Global Cities and City Possible at Mastercard, discusses how his career in information and technology has spanned the continent and why a city only works if it works for everyone. But don't jus think of them as 'smart cities.'

Before COVID-19, he says, “the digitization of public services and advancement of these quote-unquote smart cities concepts were a ‘nice to have.’ COVID all of a sudden made that a health concern, sometimes a life safety concern … All of sudden, resources can get reprioritized when you’re talking about those kinds of consequences of not acting.” 

There was once a time when sustainability meant environmental causes. These days, though, it's much more than that. And for Mastercard it's all about being a force for good and harnessing decency.

Earlier this year, Mastercard reached its goal of bringing 500 million people into the financial system. They almost immediately doubled the commitment to connect 1 billion people to the digital economy and 50 million small businesses by 2025.

And in the midst of the global pandemic, the company quickly mobilized the full strength of its resources – technology, people, funding - to help not only their customers but communities around the world to recover.

Fresh off the heels of releasing Mastercard's annual Sustainability Report, it seems more than apropos that Chief Sustainability Officer Kristina Kloberdanz appears on the latest episode of "What's Next In."

Hosted by Arthur Baker, each episode of “What’s Next In” informally explores big ideas and trends in the world of payments technology and beyond.

In their engaging discussion Kloberdanz explains the roadmap to tapping our people and our networks to build a more equitable society. She also discusses her early days at IBM (as a client rep), what it meant to be Mastercard's first sustainability officer, the road ahead and her early career as a ballerina for such prestigious Balanchine companies as The New York ballet and San Francisco Ballet.

Small business, in a real sense, is big business — it has been the engine for the global economy and has the potential to power our recovery and growth. On the latest episode of “What’s Next In,” James Anderson, executive vice president, Global Commercial Products for Mastercard, tells us how the company is helping small businesses embrace digitization and harness the power of data insights.

Small businesses provide a lot of the diversity and variety in any capitalist society, Anderson says, and there is an interesting alignment between what Mastercard is doing for small businesses and the way governments think about them.

In this episode, Anderson and Baker chatted about the accelerated adoption of contactless payments, particularly in the United States; Anderson’s propensity to collect unreliable British sportscars and the renowned cricket player with whom he shares the same moniker. “I am English but I actually don’t follow cricket. From what I hear, he’s pretty good...”