Mastercard Inks Deal With Expedia To Simplify Payments

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE:MA) recently inked a deal with Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE).com to facilitate travelers using the website to make payment trough “Masterpass”, a digital payment service of Mastercard. The agreement will not only provide travelers with more options and simplify their hotel, flight, and cruise reservations on Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity, but also ensure security of such online transactions.

Masterpass will also enable travelers to pay for their vacation without mentioning their full credentials. No doubt, this will make travelling hassle free. This Mastercard digital platform ensures a high level of security for payment and shipping information. Customers can easily access all the required information once they log into their Expedia account.

Mastercard holds a leadership position in the Payment processing industry and the recent revolutionary shift from paper-based payment modes to digital payment practices have opened up vast opportunities for the company. Mastercard has capitalized on these opportunities through several product upgrades, strategic alliances and internal restructuring. The company’s competitive edge and good prospects are clearly reflected in its share price movement. In the last one year, the stock has gained 24%, outperforming the Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry’s gain of 18%.

Masterpass is another milestone in Mastercard’s progress in the digital arena. The platform enables consumers to make fast, simple and secure digital payments irrespective of the location or devices used. According to the transaction service provider, Masterpass will further simplify shopping through its revolutionary payment security offerings.

On the other hand, holiday products dealer Expedia – which uses the latest technologies for its website to facilitate trips – expects Masterpass to provide a quick and efficient transaction experience to its customers.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Mastercard presently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Some better-ranked stocks in the same space are Total System Services, Inc (NYSE:TSS) , Visa Inc (NYSE:V) and Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE:V) . All of these stocks hold Zacks rank #2 (Buy).

Total System’s earnings beat estimates in three of the last four quarters with an average earnings surprise of 3.59%.

Visa delivered positive earnings surprises in all of the last four quarters with an average surprise of 7.24%.

Vantiv’s earnings surpassed expectations in all of the last four quarters with an average beat of 3.51%.

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