Artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining the financial sector. The opportunities offered by this technology in the current context are vast, especially in the payments industry. This was highlighted by Mastercard in its “Innovation Forum Spain 2024”, held on October 24 at the Goya Theater in Madrid.
In his first public event as CEO of Mastercard in Spain, Juan Pablo Vivas spoke with his predecessor, Paloma Real, now president of Mastercard’s Western Europe Division, about his desire to see Mastercard Spain grow both in business and innovation , highlighting the importance of improving the payment experience in ecommerce with systems like Click2Pay.
For her part, Paloma Real added: “Mastercard’s division in Western Europe is at the forefront in many areas, such as cybersecurity or the use of artificial intelligence in predictive analysis or fraud prevention. Precisely, the three great challenges that have AI as protagonists are cybersecurity, regulation and ethics., and the integration of this technology both for the internal processes of our company and for the end user.”
In addition, Nina Schick, an expert in artificial intelligence, offered a conference on the possibilities of this technology in various industries. According to Schick, it is expected that by 2028, 20% of global AI spending will come from the financial sector, “Therefore, progress in the application of AI in all processes and areas of the world of payments will determine the success of each company in this industry.”.
AI at Mastercard
Within the framework of the Mastercard Innovation Forum Spain 2024, several topics were discussed:
- The National Economy and the Consumer: Natalia Lechmanova, chief economist at the Mastercard Economic Institute in Europe, highlighted that Spain remains the fastest growing economy in the Eurozone, driven by tourism and GDP growth and labor productivity. Despite high inflation in the services sector, consumer confidence has increased, especially among young people, due to strengthening employment and declining inflation in consumer goods.
The motto of this year’s event, “Innovating the Future Together”, is a common call to action towards the future, integrating all industry players such as the 539 attendees who did not miss the event of the year
- Emerging Technologies in Commerce: Nima Sepasy, Senior Vice President of Foundry Innovation at Mastercard, spoke about the importance of AI in cybersecurity and commerce personalization. Sepasy highlighted that Mastercard has been using AI to identify fraud and improve the security and efficiency of transactions for more than 20 years.
- AI in the Hospitality Sector: Álvaro Carrillo de Albornoz and Xavier Germain discussed digitalization in tourism and the application of AI in small and medium-sized hotel businesses. Mastercard’s Strive program, which supports small businesses in the digital economy, stands out as one of the key tools to help hoteliers compete with large industry players.
- Inspiration and Demonstrations: Sara García Alonso, reserve astronaut of the European Space Agency, offered an inspirational talk on the key factors to achieve success.
During the event, Mastercard also presented its latest innovations in cybersecurity, fraud prevention and solutions for the digitalization of SMEs.
A demonstration of Mastercard’s capabilities
During the morning in which the event took place, and in a demo area, Mastercard also showed its latest innovations related to cybersecurity, financial crime or solutions so that SMEs can digitize their processes.
In addition, the company unveiled some of its solutions focused on preventing fraud, applying sustainable processes in various businesses, making payments from the car or making cross-border payments, among others.
