Markets May 27, 2015 02:31 AM EDT

MasterCard Send via P2P magic offers instant transactions within seconds

By Staff Writer

MasterCard Send is the credit network's latest innovation in support of the Federal Reserve's "Strategies for Improving the U.S. Payment System." It's a peer-to-peer system that promises to deliver money transactions in an instant.

Banking hours, banking days and even public holidays are things of the past with the MasterCard Send system as it allows 24/7/365 access to its customers. Network boundaries are also inexistent in this latest money transfer method as it accepts transactions from MasterCard and non-MasterCard debit cards as well as individuals with and without a bank account. The wide-access and liberating system it promotes also feature transaction limits and cross-border blocks designed to prevent money laundering.

There are already similar transaction platforms that have been available to the public and fees are the most distinguishing factor among these services. Reports say that MasterCard will not charge a fee to businesses that will use Send. However, these businesses have the option to charge a fee to its customers. Its first clients are FreeShipping.com and Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection. Membership cash back on purchases from FreeShipping.com are sent to the customer's debit card while Berkshire Hathaway credit disbursements to customers in the same way. It is still not clear if Send can be accessed directly by end consumers.

There were earlier reports gauging the exponential growth of P2P payment platforms used by end consumers. The report shows Venmo with an $81 million processed payment from Q1 of 2013 grew to $700 million by Q3 of 2014. It estimates that the company will process $2.5 billion payments. It also says that P2P payment has over $1 trillion in volume globally.

MasterCard had recently followed Paypal, Visa and Venmo in embarking the potentials of P2P payment system. This new payment system digitizes the existence of money which will revolutionize the means of exchange.


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