Financial services provider Mastercard has filed a patent for a blockchain system to provide faster and more secure payments on their cards, according to US Patent and Trademark Office USPTO patent filing released June 7.

The patent application says “Method And System For Payment Card Verification Via Blockchain” describes a public blockchain-assisted conveyance and retrieval of payment processes to verify and secure users’ information.

In the document, Mastercard noted the vulnerability of existing means of “wireless transmission of payment credentials,” claiming that they can be “subject to intercept.” By implementing a blockchain, the company aims to enable a secure way of conveying payment credentials that also involves “minimal participation by the consumer.” The recent blockchain application from Mastercard intends to solve the technical challenge of providing both security and convenience.

Earlier this week, Mastercard’s vice chair Ann Cairns said at the Money20/20 conference that the company has “built a Blockchain that can run the whole [network].” She stated that the company decided to apply blockchain integration “at scale” while noting the need to identify “real use cases.” Cairns explained that firms cannot just “replace existing technology with blockchain because [they] may not create a better user experience.”

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/mastercard-files-patent-for-blockchain-system-to-secure-card-payments