What's Next In

In the latest episode of "What's Next In," host Vicki Hyman chats with Peter Reynolds, Mastercard's executive vice president for real-time payments, about the growth of real-time account-to-account payments, what it means beyond speed, and how it can help enable greater financial inclusion and financial well-being. "Sophisticated payment systems are a driver of economic growth and inclusion," Reynolds says. "Being part of the digital world, part of the financial ecosystem then drives up financial literacy. It drives up people's track records that can also be used in terms of credit and lending."

In the latest episode of "What's Next In," Mastercard's podcast that informally explores technology, innovation and ideas, host Vicki Hyman chats with Minna Technologies CEO Navpreet Randhawa and Melanie Fuller, Mastercard's senior vice president of product for experience and disputes, about the growth of the subscription economy, the pains that have come along with it, and how to fix them.

Subscription economy revenue will reach nearly $1 trillion by 2028, up from $593 billion in 2024, and the business model is finding favor in unexpected sectors, such as travel. But the experience of managing subscriptions, including modifying, extending or canceling them, is often less than ideal — and we sometimes don't realize how many subscriptions we've even signed up for, which is part of the reason a growing number of card disputes are related to subscriptions.

Research by Mastercard prior to the acquisition found that more than half of those surveyed said they would switch banks for better subscription management capabilities. "I've been doing digital banking for quite a long time," Fuller says. "That is a stunning, stunning fact, because banks constantly trying to woo, win and retain customers, and there's very few things that will make customers switch at that scale."

That's why Mastercard in October acquired Minna Technologies, the global market leader for subscription management. Embedded in banking and fintech apps, the software gives consumers access to all their subscriptions in a single view, creating more transparency for consumers and strengthening their relationships with merchants.

In the latest episode of “What’s Next In,” Mastercard’s podcast that informally explores technology, innovation and ideas, host Vicki Hyman chats with Minna Technologies CEO Navpreet Randhawa and Melanie Fuller, Mastercard’s senior vice president of product for experience and disputes, about the growth of the subscription economy, the pains that have come along with it, and how to fix them.

Subscription economy revenue will reach nearly $1 trillion by 2028, up from $593 billion in 2024, and the business model is finding favor in unexpected sectors, such as travel. But the  experience of managing subscriptions, including modifying, extending or canceling them, is often less than ideal — and we sometimes don’t realize how many subscriptions we’ve even signed up for, which is part of the reason a growing number of card disputes are related to subscriptions.

Research by Mastercard prior to the acquisition found that more than half of those surveyed said they would switch banks for better subscription management capabilities. “I’ve been doing digital banking for quite a long time,” Fuller says. “That is a stunning, stunning fact, because banks constantly trying to woo, win and retain customers, and there's very few things that will make customers switch at that scale.”

That’s why Mastercard in October acquired Minna Technologies, the global market leader for subscription management. Embedded in banking and fintech apps, the software gives consumers access to all their subscriptions in a single view, creating more transparency for consumers and strengthening their relationships with merchants.

In the latest episode of "What's Next In," Mastercard's podcast that informally explores technology, innovation and ideas, host Vicki Hyman chats with Sabrina Tharani, who leads Mastercard's Start Path startup engagement program, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month. The program now counts more than 400 startups as alumni that have collectively raised more than $25 billion in post-program capital.

Among them are New York-based FinGoal, which analyzes transaction data on behalf of financial brands to generate customer attributes and next-best actions for consumers and small and medium-sized businesses, and London-based Uome, which enables seamless integration and customization for sole traders and small business owners through a flexible, API-driven platform. FinGoal CEO David Nohe and Uome founder Jason Halstead joined Tharani in discussing the evolution of the fintech landscape, the challenges of founding a startup, tips for making the most of engagement programs like Start Path, and more.

From swipe to dip to tap to smile? On the podcast "What's Next In," Mastercard's Jennifer Marriner and Dennis Gamiello discuss with host Vicki Hyman the evolution of physical checkout, from the zip-zap machines of yore to today's tap and go revolution and beyond, including the rise of biometric-powered payments in store. Looking ahead, they discuss the future of checkout as a place where online and offline experiences converge, with hyper-personalized shopping experiences and seamless checkouts. "Think about the experience you can offer, the rewards, everything associated with that payment," Gamiello says. "I show up, I'm recognized, I'm trusted … You're seeing it all moving in the same direction and it comes together to unlock that transformational experience."

With rise of advanced technology, fraudsters are tricking consumers out of more money than ever before, through more channels than ever before: emails, texts, social media, phonecalls. In just the U.S., consumers reported losing more than $10 billion to fraud in 2023, a record — and many people are too embarrassed or ashamed to report they've been scammed.

In the latest episode of "What's Next In," Mastercard's podcast that informally explores technology, innovation and ideas, host Vicki Hyman chats with Chris Reid, the company's executive vice president of Identity Solutions, on the evolution of various fraud and scam tactics, how we're using technology to combat them and measures we're encouraging customers and consumers alike to take to protect their money.

"The wonderful thing about humans is that we are inherently trusting, and that is what makes society function and be vibrant," Reid says. "It's that small subset of criminals who take advantage of that."

To fight this growing threat, Mastercard last week announced Scam Protect, a suite of products and services powered by AI, biometrics and open banking. "The same cutting-edge technology that can fight fraud can also help identify and protect consumers from scams," Reid says. "But we're going beyond tech — we are collaborating with organizations across the ecosystem to fight scams through new technologies and education."

To hear more from Reid, tune in now.

In the latest episode of "What's Next In," Mastercard's podcast that informally explores technology, innovation and ideas, host Vicki Hyman talks with Brandon "Stix" Salaam-Bailey, the Watts-born-and-bred hip-hop artist who is the force behind the ThinkWatts Foundation, the nonprofit delivering an ever-expanding range of programs — from weekly food distribution, environmental justice initiatives, and coding, financial education and entrepreneurship workshops, to name a few — to underserved residents in his community, where the poverty rate is more than twice the national average, and beyond. On the podcast, Stix shares his journey from rapper and producer to activist and social entrepreneur, highlighting some of the success stories he's shepherded through ThinkWatts, his plans for the foundation's future, and his reflections on the community that forged him.

In the latest episode of "What's Next In," Mastercard's podcast that informally explores technology, innovation and ideas, host Vicki Hyman chats with Einat Haftel, the chief product officer at Dynamic Yield, the AI-powered experience operating system that helps companies build hyper-personalized digital experiences with great agility and speed. And in a modern world where personalization is key, Shopping Muse, Dynamic Yield's new virtual digital assistant driven by generative AI, is bringing a new edge to conversational commerce.

"You can go into a store, talk to consultant, say, 'I have light features and want this makeup,' and they help you, but you can't do that when you shop online. Shopping Muse is designed to solve exactly that," she says. Haftel also discusses the future of personalization, how AI is evolving and how that is changing how people interact with it and trust its outputs. "I think AI will actually start to be empathic to the user and we are going to see people adapt," she says.

In the latest episode of "What's Next In," Mastercard's podcast that informally explores technology, innovation and ideas, host Vicki Hyman chats with Nitendra Rajput, senior vice president and head of Mastercard's AI Garage, which applies AI at scale across Mastercard, developing new algorithms and collaborating with teams to design and develop new products and services.

Rajput discusses the way cyber criminals are capitalizing on AI, how the company is accelerating the adoption of AI through innovative partnerships, and why it's critical to put in place guardrails to ensure AI is used responsibly. A researcher and prolific patent developer who started his career in speech recognition, Rajput says AI can help us better understand the world around us – and perhaps better understand ourselves as well.

In the latest episode of "What's Next In," Mastercard's podcast that informally explores technology, innovation and ideas, host Vicki Hyman chats with Mastercard's Tara Nathan, the founder of Community Pass, a digital infrastructure that increases access to critical services including healthcare, agriculture and micro-commerce for people in underserved, remote, and frequently offline communities.

As world leaders gather in New York City for the U.N. General Assembly to discuss how to accelerate action on the sustainable development goals, including reducing poverty, hunger, and inequality, Nathan discusses the role the private sector can play in delivering services in a commercially sustainable and scalable way and how people can harness digitization and their own data to improve their lives and livelihoods.

"We're peeling back the layers to a problem and creating solutions," Nathan says. "Digitization is helping to bring critical services and brighter opportunities to people in developing markets — and Mastercard is working to bridge the stiff digital divide."