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As Meta, American Express and banks such as JPMorgan Chase and HSBC pursue the metaverse and other innovations such as nonfungible tokens, Mastercard is also ramping up its strategy. The card company has filed 15 nonfungible token and metaverse trademark applications covering downloadable music files authenticated by NFTs, marketplaces for NFT-related media, processing for virtual payment cards, metaverse events and online communities. The metaverse generally refers to virtual environments such as games and social hubs. While it's still early stage for the metaverse, payment companies see opportunities to process transactions for payments within virtual environments, as well as transactions tied to incentive marketing. — John Adams 

Two concession locations at Minute Maid Park have added Amazon's checkout-free technology, which allows visitors to insert their credit card at entry gates, add items to a virtual cart, then have their cards charged automatically upon leaving the store. Spurred by Amazon Go and technology from competing companies that develop in-store shopping and payment technology, sports stadiums and arenas have been gradually enabling digital payments that use cameras and other sensory technology to eliminate lines at the point of sale. The Minute Maid Park concession areas still have in-person staff to assist consumers and check identification for alcohol purchases. — John Adams

Mastercard this week announced a risk management collaboration with Interos, a company that uses artificial intelligence to help firms manage supply chains and other operations. The card brand will offer the McLean, Virginia, company's technology to financial institutions as a way to address risks in cybersecurity, geopolitical, operational and environment, social and governance (ESG). The move fits a broader initiative at Mastercard to diversify services beyond payment processing, a strategy that's also underway at Visa. — John Adams