Mastercard has announced a new partnership with TerraPay, a global money movement and payment infrastructure company, to expand the capabilities of digital wallets across international markets. The collaboration will enable mobile money wallets, fintech apps, and banks integrated with TerraPay to make NFC-based payments at more than 150 million Mastercard acceptance locations worldwide.
The move represents a significant boost for payment interoperability. Wallet customers will now be able to tap and pay at physical points of sale globally, while wallet providers benefit from Mastercard’s established infrastructure and TerraPay’s newly launched interoperability platform, Xend, which simplifies technical integration and accelerates go-to-market processes.
TerraPay CEO Ambar Sur said the partnership advances the company’s mission of making “every wallet roam,” elevating wallets to the same universal acceptance level historically reserved for cards. TerraPay already connects financial institutions across more than 150 countries, supporting cross-border transactions and enabling frictionless money movement for millions of users.
Mastercard’s annual 2024 report underscores the growing dominance of contactless payments, revealing that 70% of all in-person Mastercard transactions globally are now contactless. These payments are up to 10 times faster than other traditional face-to-face payment methods and tend to generate higher average spend per account. By supporting digital wallets with the same infrastructure, Mastercard aims to expand financial access and deepen usage across emerging markets.
Prakriti Singh, Executive Vice President for Core Payments at Mastercard EEMEA, noted that digital wallets continue to play an essential role in financial inclusion across emerging economies. She highlighted that partnerships with ecosystem players like TerraPay help scale adoption and simplify wallet integration for providers serving millions of users.
Digital wallets—already the preferred payment option in many developing regions—will now gain broader utility beyond online checkout. With the added ability to make NFC payments at physical retail outlets, wallets can serve as a full-scale payment instrument, strengthening consumer convenience and merchant acceptance.
The partnership marks another step toward a more interoperable global payments ecosystem, where users can move, spend, and receive money seamlessly—irrespective of borders or platforms.
