Mastercard To Hire 500 Professionals To Expand Crypto Consulting

Mastercard intends to broaden its advisory services by launching new practices centered on open banking, open data, crypto, digital currencies, as well as Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG).

Mastercard announced plans to employ more than 500 young professionals this year as it grows its data and services segment, which will involve the introduction of consultancy practices focusing on cryptocurrencies and open banking.

Around 2,000 data scientists, engineers and consultants are now working in the data and services sector. "We codify it more officially into a practice when we identify a pattern of activity, a trend and enough momentum. So this is the next three we're adding to the list," Raj Seshadri, head of Mastercard's data and services group, said.

In November, Chief Executive Officer Michael Miebach stated, "Our expansion into services has proven to be a significant growth differentiator for our organization."

Mastercard's new open-banking approach will delve deeper into the conflict between banks and financial-technology rivals over the large amounts of customer data lenders have in their systems.

Startups have long coveted access to such information to utilize it in their apps and other goods, and governments all around the globe have begun to press banks to give up their systems to these outside apps.

Mastercard's crypto consultancy division aims to assist banks in navigating the use of digital currency. It can also help create crypto loyalty programs, the development of crypto cards, and risk evaluations.

"One focus is helping central banks explore the design and deployment of a central bank digital currency," Mastercard said.

Mastercard has made several moves toward incorporating blockchain and cryptocurrencies into its business model. The corporation said in 2021 that it would begin directly supporting chosen digital properties on its network.

Recently, Mastercard teamed with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to make purchasing non-fungible tokens (NFT) easier. In addition, the firm collaborated with the premier Ethereum software company, ConsenSys, to develop roll-ups for EVM blockchains.