A view of the Mastercard Experience Centre (MEC) in Singapore. — Photo courtesy of the company
Making payments using solar credits, enjoying a football match in a virtual reality stadium or scanning a product to understand the ethics of its supply chain are just some of the next-generation technology propositions on display at the revamped Mastercard Experience Centre (MEC) in Singapore.
The refreshed facility services the company’s clients and partners across the Asia Pacific region, and is one of six MECs globally, with others located in London, Stockholm, Dubai, Mexico City and New York City.
The revitalisation of the Singapore innovation space coincides with the release of Mastercard’s Future of Payments report which highlights three broad trends that have the potential to collectively expand prosperity and inclusion in the digital economy. Correspondingly, many of the innovation space’s new exhibits and technology demos bring these trends to life by blending the digital and physical across screens, tactile tables and lab spaces, creating an immersive, interactive experience for visitors.
“In the coming years, a convergence of forces will redefine and reshape commerce, transforming how people pay and get paid. The MEC is designed as a portal to that future, a place where customers and partners can virtually experience that future today, and where we’re only limited by the power of our collective imaginations,” said Sandeep Malhotra, executive vice president, products & innovation, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. “By guiding visitors through the future economy, Mastercard aims to bring abstract concepts to life, to inspire purposeful innovation and co-creation of the technologies of tomorrow.”
The MEC in Singapore acts as a regional Asia Pacific hub for Mastercard to conduct customer workshops, executive roundtables and employee events. It also serves as an innovation space and R&D lab where consumer insights, needs and trends are identified, helping to inform white space, blue sky innovation and actionable product development roadmaps for the next 12-24 months. — VNS