As it aims to increase revenue sources and remain competitive in the virtual economy, Mastercard has joined Visa and American Express in making forays into the Metaverse.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, has received 15 nonfungible token (NFT) and metaverse trademark applications from Mastercard.
Plans for a virtual community for interacting with digital assets, credit card processing in the Metaverse, an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of downloadable digital items, virtual reality events, and more are among the highlights of the files.
Multimedia data, such as artwork, text, audio, and video, are validated by NFTs in one trademark filing for the company’s “Priceless” motto. Another application shows how the company hopes to use its red and yellow “Circles” branding to process card transactions in the Metaverse and other virtual worlds.
In a separate patent, the Mastercard name will be added to Metaverse cultural events, concerts, sporting events, festivals, award shows, and financial education seminars and programmes.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Mastercard hired 500 additional employees in February to advise banks and merchants on the adoption of crypto-enabled technologies and NFTs. However, it isn’t the only large financial company filing for NFT or metaverse trademarks. Visa and American Express have also filed USPTO filings of cryptocurrency.
Visa first filed a patent application for a digital currency in 2020 and is now working on a native digital currency for its card networks. There are seven applications related to American Express’s branding with virtual payment cards, concierge services in the Metaverse, and using its cards at an NFT marketplace in the instance of American Express.
Furthermore, these credit card firms have taken several steps to stay competitive in the virtual market. While Mastercard introduced the Start Path Crypto programme to help blockchain and crypto firms scale their operations, Visa announced its Creator Program to mentor entrepreneurs about NFTs and helped them grow their small enterprises.
Mastercard is a member of the PCI Security Standards Council, or PCI SSC, which comprises major global credit card companies such as American Express, Discover, Visa, and JCB and works to improve payment data security around the world. Scallop, a licensed DeFi banking app, recently joined the PCI SSC to contribute DeFi-industry insights and recommendations to the Council.