Mastercard Incorporated (MA) Gains Momentum with Analyst Upgrade and Launch of Merchant Cloud Platform

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is one of the top credit services stocks to buy as the US cuts interest rates. On October 23, Citi analyst Bryan Keane began coverage of Mastercard (NYSE: MA) with a Buy rating and a $735 price target. Keane highlighted Mastercard’s strong position in high-margin cross-border transactions and its consistent track record of innovation, calling it a “compelling investment case” among global network service providers.

Earlier on October 14, the company unveiled a next-generation platform that unifies its market-leading services with those of its partners, helping businesses simplify and navigate the complexities of commerce. Merchant Cloud is the platform designed to support and accelerate expansion into new markets while delivering exceptional end-user experiences. It also comes with scheme-agnostic solutions for credential tokenization, guest checkout fraud protection, and identity verification.

The platform will make it easy for merchants to conduct agentic payments securely while integrating Mastercard Agent Pay. Merchants will also enjoy the opportunity to leverage the platform to provide consumers with a seamless, trusted, and agentic shopping experience.

“With Mastercard Merchant Cloud, commerce is truly simplified through a unified, scalable, secure, and open infrastructure — one that not only supports the needs of merchant partners today with data, services and insights, but is also designed to anticipate the future of digital and agent-driven commerce,” said Gaurang Shah, executive vice president, Global Acceptance & Merchant Solutions at Mastercard.

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is a global technology company that facilitates digital payments by connecting consumers, financial institutions, and businesses. It provides a network for secure, simple transactions via credit, debit, and prepaid cards and offers value-added services such as data insights, cybersecurity, and fraud management to support the digital economy.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.