Mastercard Incorporated MA recently announced its partnership with Tap Payments to introduce the world’s first Click to Pay with Payment Passkey service. With this move, MA is enhancing online shopping security and shopping experiences with cutting-edge advancements. This innovative technology will eliminate the need for traditional One-Time Passwords by using biometric authentication like fingerprints or facial recognition, ensuring faster and more secure online transactions.

This move bodes well for Mastercard, reinforcing its position as a leader in payment innovation. Moreover, better security should make Mastercard a preferred choice for customers, driving higher transaction volumes in the future. The new feature will be launched initially in the UAE, combining Mastercard’s tokenized Click to Pay technology with biometric verification.

This is also a time-opportune move, as the system automatically recognizes returning shoppers through their device or email, streamlining the checkout process. Per Mastercard research, 90% of consumers favor biometric security rather than traditional passwords. Mastercard aims to expand this feature across the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe.

Mastercard also unveiled its SpendingPulse insights revealing positive trends in U.S. retail sales during Black Friday 2024. Overall sales, excluding automotive, increased 3.4% compared to last year. Online shopping experienced significant growth, with sales rising by 14.6%, while in-store sales showed a slight growth of 0.7%. Key categories like apparel, electronics, and jewelry were popular, with online apparel purchases standing out due to seasonal promotions and favorable weather.

Payment innovations are the backbone of a company like Mastercard. Moreover, given customers' reliance on online shopping during holiday seasons or otherwise, innovating in this area is inevitable for continuous growth. Moves like this should aid Mastercard in achieving its compound annual growth rate in net revenues at the high end of the low double-digit percentage range.

Shares of Mastercard have gained 30.5% in the past year compared with the industry’s 29.7% growth. MA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks in the Business Services space are Parsons Corporation PSN, Huron Consulting Group Inc. HURN and Coinbase Global, Inc. COIN. While Parsons sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Huron Consulting and Coinbase Global carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The bottom line of Parsons outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 17.49%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PSN’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 40.7% from the 2023 reported figure. The consensus mark for revenues implies growth of 24.2% from the 2023 figure. The consensus mark for PSN’s earnings has moved 1.2% north in the past 30 days. 

The bottom line of Huron Consulting outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 19.09%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HURN’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 23% from the 2023 reported figure. The same for revenues implies growth of 8.6% from the 2023 number. The consensus mark for HURN’s earnings has moved 1% north in the past 30 days.

The bottom line of Coinbase Global outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 341.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for COIN’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of more than 14 times from the 2023 reported figure. The same for revenues implies growth of 80.6% from the 2023 number. The consensus mark for COIN’s earnings has moved 3.3% north in the past seven days.

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Mastercard Incorporated (MA) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Huron Consulting Group Inc. (HURN) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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