By Alex Deve, Product Director, Groups

People use Facebook to discover and connect with communities in meaningful ways. One way people are forming and strengthening communities is through Facebook Groups. Whether connecting with other fishermen in your town to share tips, organizing a get together for new parents in your neighborhood or finding others dealing with the same medical condition, people use Facebook Groups to connect in personal, practical and powerful ways.

No matter your interests or personal circumstance, there’s probably a group out there for you. In fact, there are tens of millions of active groups on Facebook, and every one of them exists because of the passion and dedication of the group admins who lead these communities. Mark Zuckerberg wrote about the important role that group admins play in his letter to the Facebook community earlier this year.

To celebrate these community builders, we will host our first-ever Facebook Communities Summit on June 22 and 23 in Chicago. The event is an opportunity for a few hundred group admins to gather, share and connect in real life.

We’d love to host each and every admin on Facebook, but space is limited. Admins are invited to apply here for a spot at Facebook Communities Summit. Stay tuned for more event information in the coming weeks.

Applications currently being accepted for Start Path Global 2017 summer class

To tweet this news, copy and paste: NEWS: @MAStartPath expands globally in its search for innovative #startups

 

Purchase, N.Y. – April 10, 2017 –Today, Mastercard welcomed five new startups to its Start Path Global program – the company’s global initiative to support innovative later-stage startups who are reshaping the future of commerce.

The program is open to startups who are rethinking banking and payments and have raised a significant seed or Series A round of investment.

“Fintech startups around the world are designing a digital future,” said Amy Neale, Vice President, Mastercard Start Path. “They’re bringing a different approach to enhance customer choice and experience across the industry. Our work with these startups helps connect new technology with reliable, secure financial networks and processes to create an even more rewarding and seamless commerce experience.”

Three out of the five startups joining Start Path’s 2017 spring wave are focused on artificial intelligence (AI). These startups are using AI to analyze consumer behavior, enhance in-store or in-branch customer engagement, and compute bill and payment data, driving a variety of retail innovations. The other two startups have developed solutions that extend retail access to consumers through point of sale innovations.

The spring 2017 Start Path class includes:

Divido provides merchants and lenders with an omni-channel platform that allows their consumers to spread the cost of major purchases through installments. Endor is the first intelligence software platform that lets business users ask any predictive question and get high-quality results with unmatched accuracy and speed in any domain. Fluid AI combines artificial intelligence and augmented reality to help banks and retailers create next generation user experiences in-branch and in-store. NetPlusDotCom enables retailers to transition from ‘bricks’ to ‘clicks’ and support their customers with digital payments capabilities.  Regalii works with more than 30 leading banks and fintech apps to give consumers an innovative way to manage their finances and pay their bills in the U.S. and Latin America.

Putting Ideas into Action

Since 2014, the Start Path team has received interest from 5,000 startups, leading to working with 100 companies spanning 24 countries. Through the first four classes, 20 percent of the participants have worked with Mastercard in commercial engagements or pilots.

Mastercard is collaborating with DigiSEq, an IoT payment device enabler, to connect DigiSEq device manufacturer customers with Mastercard tokenization services and enable payments on wearables. Kasisto, the company that created the conversational KAI Banking AI platform, is currently piloting a bot for banks for Mastercard employees that allows consumers to transact, manage finances, receive contextual offers and learn about benefits via messaging platforms. RecargaPay, a mobile payment solution that enables Latin American consumers to top-up their prepaid mobile phones and pay for utility bills, partnered with Mastercard to launch a card-on-file marketing promotion to attract new users.

Applications Now Open for Summer 2017 Class

Mastercard also opened the application period for its 2017 Start Path summer class, to be comprised of later stage startups. For the first time since its inception, Start Path will now welcome applications from across the world as part of the program’s effort to continue expanding across industries and geographies.

Applications for the six-month virtual program are accepted on a rolling basis. However, applications to join the next wave will be accepted through 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, April 23, 2017. Interested startups can visit https://www.startpath.com/ for additional information and to submit an application.

About Mastercard Start Path

Mastercard Start Path is a global effort to support innovative startups developing the next generation of commerce solutions today. Start Path was launched in 2014 with an objective to help startups to grow their businesses faster than they could by themselves. Startups that join the program can benefit from the knowledge of a global network of Mastercard experts, access to Mastercard customers and partners, and the ability to innovate on top of Mastercard solutions. Mastercard customers that join the program as partners get connected to the best and brightest startups and gain access to innovations from across the globe. For more information visit www.startpath.com or follow Mastercard Start Path on Twitter at @MAstartpath.

About Mastercard

Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a technology company in the global payments industry.  We operate the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories.  Mastercard products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone.  Follow us on Twitter @MastercardNews, join the discussion on the Beyond the Transaction Blog and subscribe for the latest news on the Engagement Bureau.

 

Media Contact:

Marisa Bianchi

917-408-2896

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Original author: Marisa Bianchi

By Laurent Landowski and Kemal El Moujahid, Product Managers, Messenger

Today we’re excited to announce the launch of suggestions from M to everyone in the US. M is your helpful assistant in Messenger, powered by artificial intelligence. M offers suggestions by popping into an open conversation to suggest relevant content and capabilities to enrich the way people communicate and get things done.

When we announced M over a year ago, it was a small AI experiment powered by humans that could fulfill almost any request. We learned a lot and these interactions have enabled us to build a completely automated version of M that suggests helpful actions in your chat, exposing features people may not have known were available right in Messenger. Suggestions from M has been testing with a small percentage of users for the past few months — and it has been a great success — today we’re expanding it to all Messenger users in the US.

Suggestions from M appear when it recognizes intent in a conversation and initially will include the following actions:

Sending stickers: M shares fun sticker suggestions for your daily life interactions like “Thank you” or “Bye-bye.” Paying or requesting money: M recognizes when people are discussing payments and gives them the option of easily sending or requesting money. Sharing your location: M can suggest an option to share your location during a conversation. Making plans: If people are talking about getting together, M helps coordinating a plan. Starting a poll (in group conversations only): Have a hard time making decisions in a group? M lets you set a poll topic and vote in group conversations. Getting a Ride: Talking about going somewhere? M suggests “Get A Ride” and shares an option of Lyft or Uber.

M relies on AI machine learning techniques. It suggests relevant actions to help manage conversations or help get things done. We are bringing the power of M’s AI technology to support and enhance the Messenger experience and make it more useful, personal and seamless. To experience M, simply chat with a friend or a group as you normally would. M may make a suggestion in a conversation relevant to one of the core actions listed above, and then the M logo and suggestion will appear — it’s that simple. And M learns: the more you use it, the more it can help. You always have the option to ignore or dismiss a suggestion if it’s not helpful, and if you don’t want M’s assistance you can easily mute it in M settings.

As suggestions from M start to roll out to users in the US, Messenger users across the globe will also start to see a redesigned way to compose messages. This update offers an easier way to access and discover Messenger features like our rich visual messaging tools and the ability to quickly share content like video and images directly from the text composer with a long press. We’re also adding a “More” tab to more easily access Messenger features such as Games, Payments, Share Location and Rides.

M is launching today to all iOS and Android users in the US and will eventually roll out to other countries. But this is just the beginning for M… expect to see more and more AI-powered, delightful and relevant experiences improving Messenger for you, every day. We hope that suggestions from M are just the start of what a proactive, helpful and useful assistant can offer to the 1 billion people who use Messenger each month.

Industry and Consumers to Benefit from More Choice, Greater Innovation in Payments

PURCHASE, N.Y. –  April 11, 2017 – Mastercard today commented on the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority’s decision that clears the way for the completion of the company’s planned acquisition of VocaLink Holdings Limited. The CMA gave final approval for the proposed set of remedies that address the competition concerns the CMA identified earlier this year. The deal is now expected to close in the coming weeks.

“We believe the future of payments will be defined by choice,” said Michael Miebach, chief product officer, Mastercard. “Adding bank account-based payments alongside our card network extends what we can do and how we can do it. Together, we’ll be one partner to meet all payment needs of businesses, governments and consumers.”

A leader in bank account-based payments, VocaLink’s technology powers immediate payments (also known as fast ACH) in the world’s largest financial markets. This includes the UK, Singapore and Thailand, with the U.S. scheduled to go live later this year. The acquisition will enable Mastercard to play a more strategic role in the UK as well as in other markets around the world.

VocaLink will add its outstanding team with specialized expertise, unique bank account-based technology and services such as fraud management analytics to the existing Mastercard business. The combination will enable a more holistic approach to retail, person-to-person and business-to-business payments and a broader range of services. This presents an additional opportunity to make a deeper and sustained shift from the use of cash and checks in business, government and personal payments.

“We have the opportunity to extend everything that we’ve accomplished with cards to bank account-based payments and redraw the lines of what’s possible in commerce. We’ll make it more inclusive, by expanding access to electronic payments. We’ll break down barriers, by innovating across payment types and payment flows. We’ll make it faster, bringing additional real-time payment options to more places and across more devices,” Miebach continued.

Now that the regulatory review has concluded, Mastercard and VocaLink will work to close the transaction within the next few weeks. Upon closing, David Yates will join the Mastercard management committee and become executive chair of VocaLink. Paul Stoddart will be promoted to CEO of VocaLink.

About Mastercard Incorporated

Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a technology company in the global payments industry.  We operate the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. Mastercard products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter @MastercardNews, join the discussion on the Beyond the Transaction Blog and subscribe for the latest news on the Engagement Bureau.

About VocaLink   

VocaLink is a global payments partner to banks, corporates and governments. VocaLink designs, builds and operates world-class platforms that make it easier for people to make payments confidently and securely. In the UK, VocaLink processes over 90 percent of salaries, more than 70 percent of household bills and almost all state benefits. It implemented the FAST service in Singapore and processes the majority of Sweden’s automated payments. VocaLink’s high availability, resilient payment systems power the Faster Payments Service on behalf of the Faster Payments Scheme, the Account Switching platform, Bacs and the Direct Debit Scheme. VocaLink also connects the world’s busiest network of over 70,000 ATMs through the LINK scheme. Last year VocaLink processed over 11 billion transactions with a value of £6 trillion – powering economies and empowering people. For payment news and insight go to http://connect.vocalink.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  All statements other than statements of historical facts may be forward-looking statements.  When used in this press release, the words “believe”, “expect”, “could”, “may”, “would”, “will”, “trend” and similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to Mastercard’s future prospects, developments and business strategies, as well as Mastercard’s acquisition and operation of VocaLink’s business.  We caution you to not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as they speak only as of the date they are made.  Except for the company’s ongoing obligations under the U.S. federal securities laws, the company does not intend to update or otherwise revise the forward-looking information to reflect actual results of operations, changes in financial condition, changes in estimates, expectations or assumptions, changes in general economic or industry conditions or other circumstances arising and/or existing since the preparation of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of any unanticipated events.

Many factors and uncertainties relating to the transaction, our operations and our business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control, influence whether any forward-looking statements can or will be achieved.  Any one of these factors could cause our actual results or the impact of the acquisition to differ materially from those expressed or implied in writing in any forward-looking statements made by Mastercard or on its behalf.  Such factors related to the impact of the acquisition include, but are not limited to, the following:

whether all necessary conditions will be met, and whether the transaction will close on agreed terms and in a timely manner.

For additional information on other factors related to Mastercard’s overall business that could cause Mastercard’s actual results to differ materially from expected results, please see the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and any subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K.

 

Original author: Julia Monti

Clips, a new app from Apple that makes it easy to create expressive videos on iPhone and iPad, is now available as a free download on the App Store. The app provides an all-new way to produce quick, engaging videos to share with friends or family through the Messages app, or on Instagram, Facebook and other social networks. Clips’ simple, single-screen interface lets users make polished, multi-clip videos in minutes without video editing timelines, tracks or complicated tools to learn.

By Adam Mosseri, VP, News Feed

We know people want to see accurate information on Facebook – and so do we. False news and hoaxes are harmful to our community and make the world less informed. All of us have a responsibility to curb the spread of false news.

At Facebook we have been focusing on three key areas:

disrupting economic incentives because most false news is financially motivated; building new products to curb the spread of false news; and helping people make more informed decisions when they encounter false news.

As part of our ongoing efforts, we’ve worked in consultation with First Draft, a non-profit dedicated to improving skills and standards in the reporting and sharing of information online, to roll out an educational tool to help people spot false news. We’re featuring this tool at the top of News Feed for a few days to people on Facebook in 14 countries.

When people click on this educational tool at the top of their News Feed, they will see more information and resources in the Facebook Help Center, including tips on how to spot false news, such as checking the URL of the site, investigating the source and looking for other reports on the topic.

News Feed is a place for authentic communication. Improving news literacy is a global priority, and we need to do our part to help people understand how to make decisions about which sources to trust.

False news runs counter to our mission to connect people with the stories they find meaningful. We will continue working on this and we know we have more work to do.