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MasterCard Inc. said Monday it is taking a two-pronged approach to developing interactive payment cards with an investment in Dynamics Inc., a maker of interactive payment cards, and a deal to commercialize the devices.
Pittsburgh-based Dynamics makes payment cards that have features such as buttons, display and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Consumers can use the features to select from multiple currencies, access to credit and debit accounts, and a loyalty application. The Dynamics card is the same size as a typical payment card, and includes a chip and a battery.
Dynamics also announced today it secured $70 million in Series C funding, with MasterCard and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce as new investors, joining Bain Capital Ventures and Adams Capital Management.
Dynamics says it will use the funding to increase its manufacturing operations and improve its technical capabilities and product lines.
“We see a future where every device becomes a commerce device. This not only includes a shift to mobile-based payments, but also a move from ‘static’ plastic to ‘dynamic’ interactive payment cards and systems,” Carlos Menendez, MasterCard group executive of global credit and debit products, says in a press release. “Our partnership with Dynamics will further enable us to provide our customers with new, best-in-class solutions to meet the increasingly sophisticated and digital needs of consumers across the globe.”
Founded in 2007, Dynamics provided the cards for a Citibank trial in 2010 that enabled a small group of cardholders to use a card that had two buttons on it. One was to make a regular credit transaction and the other was to apply rewards to the transaction. A light illuminated on the card to indicate the transaction type.
In 2012, the company launched ePlate, a technology that enables consumers to rewrite information from a choice of loyalty programs to the card’s magnetic stripe at the touch of a button.
