Mastercard has opened its first innovation lab in India to work side-by-side with the financial community on future technology advances in digital transactions, big data, financial inclusion and fraud deterrence.

Mastercard Labs in India is the company’s ninth lab to be built to date. Based in Pune, the new lab will be used as an incubation hub for testing new technologies while acting as a support base for startup partnerships in the emerging economy, partly by using the card’s Start Path programme.

The opening of the lab follows a previous project conducted with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and other payments brands to develop Bharat QR, an interoperable Quick Response (QR) code acceptance system, as part of a national push to streamline local electronic payments infrastructure.

Vice President and Mastercard innovation management head, Tobias Puehse said: “By establishing the new lab in Pune, we are looking to deepen our active collaborations with governments, issuers and businesses in India and revolutionize the market’s digital payments ecosystem to drive greater acceptance and adoption of electronic payments, not just in India but around the world.” pite of a lack of investment opportunities due to high prices and a relatively illiquid market, activity in Hong Kong is increasing. Chinese investors, in particular, are continuing to invest in the city and there are lots of opportunities for the savvy investor”.