Yahoo Finance Mastercard Introduces Tap & Go in Beijing for Visitors
Mastercard Incorporated MA recently teamed up with the urban rail transit system of Beijing and made an announcement that international visitors can now use Tap & Go payments at all urban rail transit stations of China's capital with overseas-issued Mastercard cards. The facility was made available for the targeted individuals from Friday.
This Tap & Go service enables inbound travelers to easily access more than 10,000 gates across around 490 urban rail transit stations in Beijing without needing cash or a local transport card. The service also includes Mastercard’s sonic branding, where the recognizable Mastercard chime will be heard at the turnstile when a successful transaction is made.
While this service is initially available for overseas-issued cards, plans are underway to extend it to local cardholders, who will soon be able to use their new 'China Mastercard' to pay for transit fares.
Backed by the People's Bank of China, the Beijing government and the city's urban rail transit system, Mastercard has become the first international payment brand in mainland China to unveil the Tap & Go feature for urban transit successfully. The recent announcement marks MA’s sincere efforts to simplify travel for visitors by removing certain payment barriers, enhancing digital payments and contributing to urban mobility by easing traffic congestion.
The latest move is part of Mastercard’s Pay Like a Local initiative, which was introduced in 2023 to promote inclusive payments and expand the card-based market in China. To support inbound tourism and boost domestic spending, Mastercard initially teamed up with WeChat and Alipay to link overseas-issued cards to the two digital wallets. Since then, it has been rapidly expanding its acceptance network and targeting commercial hubs and key sectors like hotels, public transportation and tourist spots in major cities. Over the next three years, the company aims to add millions of acceptance points across China.
Benefits of the Recent Move to Mastercard
The increased usage of overseas-issued Mastercard cards is expected to boost its net revenues derived from its payment network by charging fees to customers based on the gross dollar volume of the cards. Payment network net revenues improved 7% year over year in the second quarter of 2024. There were 3.4 billion Mastercard and Maestro cards issued across the globe as of June 30, 2024.
Mastercard has played a key role in implementing contactless or open-loop ticketing systems for transport networks in major cities like London, New York City, Milan, Singapore and Sydney. The company collaborates with institutions to develop mobility transaction processing standards and ensure seamless compatibility of contactless cards and devices across a country’s transportation network.
In August 2024, MA announced that its contactless credit and debit cards would be accepted for fare payments on the MTR heavy rail network in Hong Kong, excluding the Airport Express.
MA Stock’s Price Performance
Shares of Mastercard have gained 18.3% in the past year compared with the industry’s 17.9% growth.
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MA Stock’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks
MA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the Business Services space are Trane Technologies plc TT, ICF International, Inc. ICFI and Exponent, Inc. EXPO. While Trane Technologies sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), ICF International and Exponent carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The bottom line of Trane Technologies outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 8.05%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TT’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 20.2% from the year-ago figure. The estimate for revenues implies growth of 10.6% from the year-ago number. The consensus mark for TT’s earnings has moved 1% north in the past 30 days.
ICF International’s earnings outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 11.73%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ICFI’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 8.6% from the year-ago figure. The estimate for revenues implies growth of 5% from the year-ago number. The consensus mark for ICFI’s earnings has moved 0.6% north in the past 30 days.
The bottom line of Exponent outpaced estimates in two of the last four quarters and missed the mark twice, the average surprise being 7.83%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EXPO’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 5.2% from the year-ago figure. The estimate for revenues implies growth of 3.8% from the year-ago actual. The consensus mark for EXPO’s earnings has moved 5.7% north in the past 60 days.
Shares of Trane Technologies, ICF International and Exponent gained 80.5%, 35.4% and 18.2%, respectively, in the past year.
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