Mastercard Incorporated MA recently collaborated with a Senegal-based fintech firm, New Africa Technology (NAT), in a bid to launch a virtual and physical prepaid card tied to NAT's digital wallet, "Flash." 

Transactions through the wallet can be done using both virtual and physical prepaid cards, and a seamless payment experience is assured. It incorporates features like invoice splitting among multiple users, expense management, and budgeting tools. The app also works seamlessly with regional wallets, allowing for smooth transactions between users.

The innovative fintech card introduced with the help of Mastercard aims to bolster merchant support by facilitating payment acceptance via innovative methods such as QR Pay, Pay by Link, and contactless transactions. Additionally, it introduces "Flash in Business," a platform tailored to meet the corporate financial needs of businesses.

The ulterior motive of Mastercard behind the latest move remains to offer secure and diversified payment solutions and therefore, revolutionize the payment systems in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and Benin. 

The new card offering, infused with attractive features and technology advancements, is expected to attract new customers to indulge in spending to avail the benefits. Increased usage of the card may boost the tech giant’s net revenues from its global payment network by charging fees to customers based on the gross dollar volume of the cards.

Concurrent with the recent move, Worldpay introduced an innovative partnership with Mastercard to streamline supplier payouts and provide tailored solutions for travel agents. Worldpay, through the Mastercard Wholesale Programme, offers travel agents in the U.K. and Europe access to virtual cards, streamlining payment processes for clients.

Shares of Mastercard have gained 24.9% in the past year compared with the industry’s 31.8% growth. MA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks in the Business Services space are Parsons Corporation PSN, Envestnet, Inc. ENV and Huron Consulting Group Inc. HURN. While Parsons sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Envestnet and Huron Consulting carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The bottom line of Parsons outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 17.49%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PSN’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 40.7% from the 2023 reported figure. The consensus mark for revenues implies growth of 24.2% from the 2023 figure. The consensus mark for PSN’s earnings has moved 6.9% north in the past 30 days. 

Envestnet’s earnings outpaced estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark once, the average surprise being 6.00%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ENV’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 22.2% from the 2023 reported figure. The consensus mark for revenues implies growth of 11.4% from the 2023 figure. The consensus mark for ENV’s earnings has moved 1.6% north in the past 30 days.

The bottom line of Huron Consulting outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 19.09%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HURN’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 23% from the 2023 reported figure. The same for revenues implies growth of 8.6% from the 2023 number. The consensus mark for HURN’s earnings has moved 1.5% north in the past 30 days.

Shares of Parsons, Envestnet and Huron Consulting have gained 57.1%, 70.2% and 16.1%, respectively, in the past year.

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Mastercard Incorporated (MA) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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