Mediaworld, Trenitalia and Vodafone are the first major brands that have already enrolled for MasterPass and will shortly be joined by Esselunga. 3,500 more retailers are also active through Banca Sella, the first acquirer bank to offer the MasterPass service to all its online clients.

With a population of 14 million online buyers, and purchases using mobile devices (smartphones or tablets) up by 255% in 2013 to EUR 510 million[1], the Italian market is experiencing steady e-Commerce and importantly m-Commerce growth which makes it ripe for an innovation like MasterPass.

With MasterPass, consumers, don't have to enter their card and shipping details each time they make a purchase from an online retailer, which is particularly important in the growing area of purchases made from smartphones and tablets. Consumers can simply click on the "Buy with MasterPass" button and enter their username and password to complete payment for a purchase. MasterPass optimizes the mobile check out experience making the small screens easier to navigate and offers the same benefits for online purchases made from PCs and tablets too.

MasterPass is a global standard that allows Italian consumers to make electronic payments using any major payment brand in a simple and secure way wherever they are in the world, and for retailers the ability to offer the benefits of this new payment system to international customers.

MasterPass is also addressing the market demand for a quick, simple, and secure online digital payment experience. As shown by a Doxa survey carried out on behalf of MasterCard in Italy, consumers ask primarily for more ease of use (80%), more speed (66%), more security (66%) and, last but not least, a more rewarding "emotional" experience. In fact, the survey highlights that this new technology rewards the user because it combines ease of use, security and speed in the same high-tech system. In other words, MasterPass is the practical result of a digital payment technology that makes life easier.

"MasterPass demonstrates MasterCard's commitment to the development of electronic payments in Italy too," says Paolo Battiston, Country Manager, MasterCard Italy. "The leading market players have clearly understood its benefits and opportunities and are working actively with us to launch this service."

BNP Paribas Group bank BNL is the first Italian bank to pilot with employees and a group of selected clients in the run up to the commercial launch of the MasterPass service for all the bank's clients early in 2014. In the meantime, this year it has been possible to use MasterPass to make donations to the Telethon charity project.

The importance of MasterPass is confirmed by the fact that other major Italian banks are now working to implement the digital payment platform, including Banca Generali, BPM, Findomestic and Intesa Sanpaolo.

Acquirer CartaSi, Deusche Bank and Setefi have subscribed to the service and will complete the activation to their business clients over the coming months.

"We are particularly proud of this agreement with MasterCard," said Trenitalia National and International Passenger Director Gianfranco Battisti, emphasising that, "the selection of the MasterPass digital payment platform springs from the union of two leading brands: MasterCard and high-speed rail leader Trenitalia, which has revolutionised the way Italians travel, with 42 million passengers choosing the Frecce service this year (5.2% up on 2012).

Our goal," added Trenitalia's National and International Passenger Director, "is to continue to improve service quality for Trenitalia clients, who range from businessmen to tourists and families, and with MasterPass we are introducing yet another extremely innovative, high quality product. MasterPass," concluded Battisti, "contributes to this goal by allowing us to offer Trenitalia clients a leading edge online payment tool that is simple, fast and secure".

"The activation of MasterPass," comments Banca Sella eCommerce Manager Alessandro Bocca, "represents yet another step forward in the strategy pursued by Banca Sella to provide its business clients with all the payment systems consumers regard as optimum, and MasterPass is clearly one of these."

"With this initiative," said Marco Tarantola, BNP Paribas Group bank BNL Vice General Director and Retail and Private Banking Division Manager, "BNL confirms its innovative drive to find solutions that reflect the new habits and lifestyles of the bank's clients.

The collaboration with MasterCard, and the launch of the MasterPass payment platform, represents another step forward in the search for new physical and online payment systems and is perfectly integrated with BNL's advanced payments eco-system YouPass. This includes the contactless prepaid card, which will shortly be joined by the NFC-based mobile payment service that has been successfully tested during the year, and over the coming months the Bank's entire range of cards will be offered with contactless technology".