Mastercard's Services Business Drives Growth and Differentiation
2023-06-20
Mastercard Incorporated held its earnings call at the RBC 2023 Financial Technology Conference on June 13, 2023, at 11:15 AM ET. The call was moderated by Dan Perlin from RBC Capital Markets, and Raj Seshadri, President of Data & Services at Mastercard Incorporated, was the key participant.
During the call, the management shared that the market outlook is positive, and the consumer is resilient globally. The management highlighted that consumer spending on experiences is up, and there are more jobs than people. However, they also mentioned that inflation and varying monetary and fiscal policies could impact the banking sector. Despite this, the management sees the consumer's resilience as a positive sign for the market.
The key drivers of Mastercard's business are services, which drive growth, differentiation, diversification, and talent acquisition. The virtuous cycle of services driving customer portfolios to do better, which drives payments and payment revenues for Mastercard, is a significant driver of the business. Additionally, services differentiate the payments business relative to competitors, diversify Mastercard's customer base, and attract talent to the organization. Mastercard's services business provides a broad range of services to different verticals of merchants, governments, local governments, city state, federal government, central banks, fintechs, and neo banks.
The company's plans for product/service expansion include three pillars: payments, services, and new networks. The services pillar includes Data & Services, cybersecurity and intelligent services, processing gateway, and other services that came out of consumer card, fraud services, consulting, marketing services, loyalty, insights business, analytics business, business information platforms, innovation services, and others. The company plans to invest in and evolve its portfolio of services based on trends in the market, customer needs, and opportunities for co-creation. The goal is to capture the full potential of services to add value to customers, support payments and new networks, and bring new customers into Mastercard.
While the specific outlook for the quarter/year is not explicitly mentioned in the meeting transcription, the speaker mentions that the company is keeping an eye on various economic factors. The management also highlighted that the consumer is resilient across the globe, even in uncertain times.
In conclusion, Mastercard's earnings call at the RBC 2023 Financial Technology Conference provided insights into the company's business strategy and plans for product/service expansion. The management's positive outlook on the market and the consumer's resilience is a positive sign for the industry. The company's focus on services as a key driver of growth, differentiation, diversification, and talent acquisition is a significant strategy to capture the full potential of services to add value to customers, support payments and new networks, and bring new customers into Mastercard.