Mastercard to buy Minna Technologies


The card network will acquire the Swedish business in a bid to provide consumers with a centralized hub for managing their subscriptions

Minna Technologies works with banks to let consumers manage their subscriptions through embedded tools in bank apps and websites. Through the acquisition, Mastercard also seeks to streamline the consumer subscription experience as consumers add more subscriptions to their budgets in the coming years.

The company, which was founded in 2016, has had a headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden, but operates in the U.S. and U.K. as well and also has a presence in India, according to its website. Its clients include the large Europe-based banks Lloyds Banking Group, ING and Swedbank.

Minna Technologies CEO Amanda Mesler said in a post on her LinkedIn page that the company would become part of Mastercard’s Ethoca unit, which focuses on fighting fraud and reducing chargebacks. Mesler, who is based in the U.K., also acknowledged on the company’s website that the acquisition still requires regulatory review.

Mastercard cited a Juniper Research report in its press release to point out that subscriptions worldwide are projected to reach 9.3 billion by 2028, up from 6.8 billion this year. The company also acknowledged in the release that consumers sometimes “struggle to find ways” to change, cancel or extend subscriptions.

That’s an issue that has concerned federal regulators, who are now scrutinizing how easy, or not, it is for consumers to cancel their subscriptions. In January 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a circular clarifying that companies that failed to clearly disclose their subscription service terms and get consent from customers could be violating the law.

That same month, the Federal Trade Commission held a hearing on a proposed rule that would require companies to simplify the process of opting out of automatic subscription renewals.

Aside from holding a hearing on the matter, the FTC has also taken action against companies that have made it difficult to cancel their subscriptions. In January, the agency settled with the cash advance company FloatMe for $3 million. The agency said that the company made it difficult for customers to cancel their monthly subscription fee and discriminated against customers who received government assistance.

In addition to bolstering its subscription services, Mastercard also made another recent acquisition to improve its cybersecurity operations. Last month, the company agreed to buy Recorded Future, a cybersecurity company, for $2.65 billion. The two companies have previously worked together on an AI-powered service that notifies banks when fraudsters have compromised credit or debit cards.

“At the end of the day, all of us involved in subscriptions – merchants, financial institutions, payment networks and others – can collectively create a win-win approach for each of us and most importantly, for the consumer,” Ethoca Executive Vice President Gaurav Mittal wrote in the blog post. “When we come together to collaborate and innovate, we can help simplify a complex digital ecosystem, deliver better experiences and help grow the economy.”


By Tatiana Walk-Morris on Oct 2, 2024
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