Why it matters to you
If Oracle and Mastercard manage to get a variety of retailers, schools, and other institutions integrate with Qkr! and Masterpass, then Qkr! will be an even simpler way to pay over tap-and-pay services.
Mastercard’s mobile payment service Qkr! is coming to the U.S. as well as a handful of other countries, and the company’s new partnership with Oracle will help make the experience even more simple.
Qkr! is an iOS and Android app that uses Masterpass, Mastercard’s digital payment service, to allow users to pay at select restaurants, cinemas, schools, and more. It’s not a tap-and-pay service like Apple Pay and Android Pay, and it requires the merchant to enable the service.
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The collaboration between Mastercard and Oracle, which offers software services for a lot of institutions, will allow for simpler transactions on the merchant side, while preventing the need for vendors to build two separate payment solutions for in-store and online operations with Mastercard Payment Gateway Services.
“Oracle has the ability to bring this offering of Qkr! already integrated into their offering to the hundreds of thousands of merchants they have within their platform,” Kiki Del Valle, senior vice president at Mastercard, told Digital Trends.
Qkr! will launch in Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa, and the U.S. over the course of the year, where customers will be able to pay for supplies and fees at schools, make payments at gas stations, parking lots, stadiums, vending machines, and more.
Mastercard and Oracle are working with partners such as Carluccio’s Wagamama, Young & Co.’s Brewery, and Geronimo Pubs to let customers order additional items during meals, pay at the table, and split the bill.
More: PayPal inks agreement with MasterCard allowing users to make mobile payments
“It’s about being able to drive a smart engagement that can help streamline some of the tasks that servers or associates at a restaurant may have and help expedite the service in the way the consumers want to engage with any particular brand,” Del Valle said.
Qkr! accepts all major credit and debit cards, and consumers can register more than one card.