In today’s fast-changing digital landscape, seamless, secure, and intelligent payments are not just a goal—they’re a foundational requirement for a connected global economy. At Money20/20 Europe, IXOPAY’s Morgan Morrill, host of the “Connected Payments” podcast, sat down with Anne-Marie Dentz, Vice President of Acceptance and Channel Partnerships at Mastercard, to discuss how Mastercard is building the infrastructure for payment connectivity at global scale—across banks, merchants, fintechs, and consumers.
With over 20 years of experience in merchant payments and deep expertise in both acquiring and issuing, Dentz offered valuable insights into how Mastercard balances its dual role as a payment network and technology company—and why that’s essential to powering global commerce.
Bridging Technology and Trust in Payments
Mastercard operates uniquely as both a global payment network and a technology innovator. This dual identity enables the company to lead cross-industry collaboration and ecosystem-wide transformation.
“We're not just a global payment network. We're not just a technology company. We're actually both,” said Dentz. “And I think it's that combo that is really helping us drive the innovation.”
This combination allows Mastercard to serve as a connective layer between issuers, acquirers, fintechs, and merchants. Over the past decade, Mastercard has tripled its acceptance footprint across more than 150 locations worldwide, operating in over 200 countries and territories—a testament to its mission to make digital payments accessible everywhere.
Yet, its true edge lies in how it applies data and insights to enhance security, enable personalization, and create better experiences for everyone involved in a transaction. That’s how Mastercard powers trusted connections at scale.
The Rise of Seamless Checkout: Click to Pay & Tokenization
As expectations for fast and secure online experiences increase, Mastercard is redefining checkout through two core technologies: Click to Pay and tokenization. Together, they are streamlining payment flows, reducing friction, and connecting merchants and consumers through a more modern, intelligent layer.
1. Tokenization: A New Layer of Security
Replaces static card details with dynamic token values
Protects sensitive information even if a merchant’s systems are breached
Reduces fraud by up to 50%, according to Mastercard
“Tokenization provides that security infrastructure layer,” explained Dentz. “It replaces any of the static information that’s on your card by a token, so it’s secure by design.”
2. Click to Pay: One-Click, No Hassle Checkout
Eliminates the need to manually enter card details at checkout
Minimizes cart abandonment by making the process faster and easier
Improves approval rates due to reduced friction and fewer errors
“From a consumer perspective, Click to Pay means you don’t have to go and find your card. It’s easy, it’s seamless,” said Dentz. “It’s that combination of experience and behind-the-scenes security that drives more value to merchants and ease to consumers.”
Together, these solutions help close the loop between user convenience and backend security—core elements of modern payment connectivity.
AI & Machine Learning: Fighting Fraud with Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is fast becoming a cornerstone of Mastercard’s strategy to connect data, security, and user experience. With rising transaction volumes and increasingly sophisticated fraud tactics, AI enables Mastercard to make smarter, faster decisions across the payment flow.
Here’s how Mastercard is using AI and machine learning to keep the payment ecosystem connected and secure:
Real-time fraud detection: Instantly flags and blocks suspicious activity using predictive analytics
Behavioral analytics: Learns consumer patterns to detect anomalies and prevent fraud
Embedded intelligence: Built directly into transaction flows to enable approval or denial decisions in milliseconds
Layered defense: AI complements biometrics, tokenization, and other tools to reinforce trust
“We combine decisioning intelligence as part of the transaction flow,” Dentz said. “We incorporate it in all our fraud decisioning tools, and when you combine that with biometrics and tokenization, it reinforces the entire ecosystem.”
According to Infosecurity Magazine, Mastercard’s generative AI tools have doubled the speed of fraud detection, enabling quicker response times and fewer false declines—strengthening the web of payment trust and connectivity across issuers and merchants.
Payment Orchestration: Partnering for Smarter Commerce
As digital commerce grows more complex, payment orchestration platforms play a critical role in connecting global merchants to the right payment methods, acquirers, and fraud tools. Mastercard views these platforms not as competitors—but as connectivity enablers.
“Payment orchestrators play a crucial role in the ecosystem,” Dentz noted. “For us, it’s about understanding where we have those synergies and where we can supplement and complement your offering.”
Mastercard’s support for orchestrators includes:
Embedding technology: Tools like tokenization and Click to Pay are integrated into orchestration workflows
Improving transaction quality: Faster routing decisions increase success rates and reduce friction
Expanding global access: Mastercard’s network helps orchestrators connect to more markets and partners
This collaboration highlights Mastercard’s role as a connector between merchants, platforms, and banks—creating more resilient and scalable commerce.
Beyond Cards: Expanding Into Open Banking, Identity, and Inclusion
While Mastercard’s roots are in card payments, its future is in digital connectivity across financial services. The company’s investments in open banking, digital identity, and financial inclusion reflect a broader mission to connect people to opportunity through secure and inclusive platforms.
Open Banking
Empowers consumers to control and share their data
Accelerates onboarding and lending decisions
Enables real-time connections between financial institutions
Mastercard’s Open Banking for Lending initiative is already helping individuals and small businesses gain faster access to financial services.
Digital Identity
Verifies users securely without compromising privacy
Reduces friction in onboarding and payment authorization
Financial Inclusion
Extends access to digital payments for underserved communities
Connects small businesses to funding and global markets
“It’s not just about payments,” said Dentz. “It’s about how we have a role in the digital economy and how we support everyone—whether it's consumers or players in the ecosystem. Financial inclusion is at the heart of that.”
These initiatives position Mastercard as a connective force in the digital economy, linking access, identity, and opportunity.
Enabling the Future of Payment Connectivity
Mastercard’s work across AI, tokenization, open banking, and orchestration isn’t happening in silos—it’s creating an intelligent, interoperable system where payments happen effortlessly across touch points.
The company is preparing for a future defined by:
100% tokenized transactions within five years
Embedded payments across IoT and connected devices
Hyper-personalized commerce experiences built on secure, real-time data
Multi-rail flexibility, allowing consumers to pay via cards, bank transfers, crypto, and more
“We want to make sure that payment is invisible. It happens in the background. It's seamless,” Dentz said. “The combination of intelligent embedded solutions, tokenization, security, and expanded payment options is where we see the future trends.”
This is payment connectivity in action—a world where secure, data-driven payments are tightly woven into everyday life, no matter the channel or geography.
Final Thoughts
Mastercard’s approach to building the future of payments centers on connection—between technologies, platforms, institutions, and people. Through collaboration, intelligence, and infrastructure, the company is shaping a future where payments are not just fast and secure—but also seamlessly connected.
“We’re creating payments for the future—but more importantly, we’re creating experiences that people can trust,” said Dentz.
Stay tuned to the “Connected Payments” podcast for more conversations with the industry leaders defining the next era of global commerce.