On Tuesday, Mastercard said that it had reached a deal to buy Minna Technologies, a software company that helps customers better manage their subscriptions.

The action was taken in response to Mastercard’s and Visa’s aggressive efforts to diversify their businesses beyond credit and debit cards and into technology services including pay-by-bank payments, cybersecurity, and fraud prevention.

Mastercard refuses to share the transaction’s financial information, which is presently being examined by regulators.

The payments giant claimed that the agreement will enable it to provide customers with a method to access all of their subscriptions in a single view, whether inside your banking app or a central “hub,” in conjunction with other projects it is committed to surrounding subscriptions.

Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, Minna Technologies creates technology that enables users to manage subscriptions within banking apps and websites, irrespective of the payment method they originally used.

According to the company, it collaborates with some of the biggest financial institutions in existence today. It already counts rival Visa and Mastercard as important partners.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Mastercard stated, “These teams and technologies will add to the broader set of tools that help manage the merchant-consumer relationship and minimize any disruption in their experience.”

Modern consumers frequently have a tonne of subscriptions from various providers, including Netflix, Amazon, and Disney Plus, to keep track of. Having numerous subscriptions can make it challenging to cancel them because users may forget which ones they have paid for when.

According to Mastercard, this may have a detrimental effect on retailers since customers who find it difficult to cancel their subscriptions often contact their banks to ask that payments be stopped.

Data from Juniper Research indicates that there are currently 6.8 billion subscriptions worldwide; by 2028, that figure is predicted to increase to 9.3 billion.

Establishment businesses in the financial services industry, like Mastercard, have been expanding their product line quickly to stay competitive with up-and-coming fintech companies that provide consumers with easier-to-use, digitally native methods of managing their money.

A U.S. fintech company called Finicity was purchased by Mastercard in 2020. It allows other banks or other third parties to access a customer’s banking data and process payments on their behalf.

In other words, as a customer, you would simply need to use your fingerprint to confirm your identity when you pay, instead of having to manually enter your card details as it was previously stated that the company would tokenize all cards issued on its network in Europe by 2030.

Meanwhile, Visa is making an effort to compete with fintech rivals. The business introduced Visa A2A, a new service that makes it simpler for customers to set up and manage direct debits—payments that are deducted from your bank account instead of using a credit or debit card—last month.On Tuesday, Mastercard said that it had reached a deal to buy Minna Technologies, a software company that helps customers better manage their subscriptions.

The action was taken in response to Mastercard’s and Visa’s aggressive efforts to diversify their businesses beyond credit and debit cards and into technology services including pay-by-bank payments, cybersecurity, and fraud prevention.

Mastercard refuses to share the transaction’s financial information, which is presently being examined by regulators.

The payments giant claimed that the agreement will enable it to provide customers with a method to access all of their subscriptions in a single view, whether inside your banking app or a central “hub,” in conjunction with other projects it is committed to surrounding subscriptions.

Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, Minna Technologies creates technology that enables users to manage subscriptions within banking apps and websites, irrespective of the payment method they originally used.

According to the company, it collaborates with some of the biggest financial institutions in existence today. It already counts rival Visa and Mastercard as important partners.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Mastercard stated, “These teams and technologies will add to the broader set of tools that help manage the merchant-consumer relationship and minimize any disruption in their experience.”

Modern consumers frequently have a tonne of subscriptions from various providers, including Netflix, Amazon, and Disney Plus, to keep track of. Having numerous subscriptions can make it challenging to cancel them because users may forget which ones they have paid for when.

Mastercard pointed out that this could be detrimental to retailers because customers who find it difficult to cancel their subscriptions wind up contacting their banks to ask that payments be stopped.

Data from Juniper Research indicates that there are currently 6.8 billion subscriptions worldwide; by 2028, that figure is predicted to increase to 9.3 billion.

Establishment businesses in the financial services industry, like Mastercard, have been expanding their product line quickly to stay competitive with up-and-coming fintech companies that provide consumers with easier-to-use, digitally native methods of managing their money.

A U.S. fintech company called Finicity was purchased by Mastercard in 2020. It allows other banks or other third parties to access a customer’s banking data and process payments on their behalf.

In other words, as a customer, you would simply need to use your fingerprint to confirm your identity when you pay, instead of having to manually enter your card details as it was previously stated that the company would tokenize all cards issued on its network in Europe by 2030.

Meanwhile, Visa is making an effort to compete with fintech rivals. The business introduced Visa A2A, a new service that makes it simpler for customers to set up and manage direct debits—payments that are deducted from your bank account instead of using a credit or debit card—last month.

Coral, a climate tech company harnessing the power of blockchain and AI, has successfully raised $3 million in pre-seed funding to scale its operations and enhance its platform for carbon emissions management. With this investment, Coral plans to establish a new office in Abu Dhabi, expand its team, and further develop its AI-driven system.

Blockchain-Powered Carbon Credit Traceability

Announced on September 23, Coral’s funding round was led by a group of seasoned tech investors with over 40 years of collective experience. The funds will support Coral’s expansion efforts, including increasing its customer base and improving its platform, which streamlines carbon data collection, evaluation, and reporting within one system.

Coral offers businesses an innovative way to manage their carbon emissions, leveraging blockchain technology for complete “full lifecycle traceability” of carbon credits. This ensures the quality and transparency of carbon offsets with real-time auditability.

Scaling for a Sustainable Future

Daniele Sileri, Coral’s Director of Product and Strategy, expressed excitement over the successful funding round, stating, “We’re thrilled to have completed our seed round and are grateful for the support from our investors who share our vision for a sustainable future. This funding will enable us to scale our platform, expand our team, and accelerate our mission to make carbon neutrality accessible and transparent for businesses worldwide.”

Jürgen Hoebarth, Director of Operations and Research at Coral, highlighted how the company stands out by integrating AI and blockchain into its Emissions Management System, allowing Coral to help organizations achieve their sustainability objectives more effectively.

Unit of Alphabet In an unprecedented move, Google has consented to buy nature-based carbon removal credits from a business in Brazil, marking the company’s first involvement with carbon programs in the South American nation.

Google and Mombak announced on Thursday that Google will purchase 50,000 metric tons of carbon reduction credits from Mombak by 2030. Mombak either buys back damaged property from farmers and ranchers or works in conjunction with them to reestablish native species in the Amazon rainforest.

Following in the footsteps of Microsoft, another massive U.S. tech company, which last year signed an agreement to purchase up to 1.5 million credits from Mombak, Google has previously purchased designed removal credits.

The terms of the agreement were not disclosed by Google or the Brazilian startup. Mombak priced its credits at more than $50 per ton on average in 2023 when it sold them to McLaren Racing.

Chief Technology Officer Dan Harburg of Mombak stated in an interview that he was hoped the move would lead to further partnerships, saying, “The vote of confidence for us and this sector in general that comes from Google stepping into this is a really positive signal.”

The announcement coincides with the annual Climate Week in New York, which is being held this month.

Facebook’s parent company Meta decided earlier this week to purchase up to 3.9 million carbon offset credits from the forestry division of Brazilian investment firm BTG Pactual.

The so-called Symbiosis Coalition, which aims to procure up to 20 million tons of nature-based carbon reduction credits by 2030, was co-founded by Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Meta.

With carbon offsets, businesses can accomplish their corporate climate targets by using the money they save on emissions reductions in other areas to offset their greenhouse gas emissions. A decrease of one ton of carbon dioxide emissions is represented by each credit.

Greenpeace and other opponents of carbon offset markets claim that these markets permit greenhouse gas polluters to continue their operations.