Bitcoin adds Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) to its list of parons as the global financial services giant said that it has filed a patent, which aims to incorporate the virtual currency into its structure for a proposed global online shopping cart. The filing submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) titled ‘Payment Interchange for use with Global Shopping Cart’ and was filed in March 2013.
Purchasing Options
The application by the company is a part of its efforts to create a global online shopping cart meant for online shoppers. The company plans to create a global shopping cart, which would resemble offerings from all of the individual retailers, thus, making it convenient for shoppers to place carts for larger projects like home renovations or weddings. CoinDesk reported that the Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA)’s official told them about how the company wants to make it convenient for the customers at each step and the patent application is a way of adding flexibility to a consumer’s purchasing mode selection. However, the company added that the patent application does not mean any special support to Bitcoin.
Flexible API Framework
In its filing, Mastercard has noted that it would need a payment interchange in order to support a range of alternative payment methods for its global shipping cart. At the same time, the company has added bitcoin in its filing under the head of “non-traditional modes or sources of payment”. Apart from this, the company has also said to be working on a flexible API framework that could support all types of currency interface, including, bitcoin wallets, MasterPass, PayPal, Google Wallets and others.
While the patent is not yet approved by USPTO, but the same has placed Mastercard in race with other financial companies, which have been seeking patent protection for the use of various digital currencies.
July 01, 2014 at 08:17AM
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