Mastercard's new look explained

Mastercard, one of the world’s most recognisable brands, has reworked its brand identity to look “modernized and simplified”. It is an update to its iconic red and yellow logo and new look and feel for branded communications and experiences.“The ability to thrive in a digital age as well as position Mastercard as a forward-thinking, human-centered technology company is fundamental to this change,” said the company.Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer said:“Mastercard is one of those unique brands that is instantly recognisable around the world. To thrive in this new digital world where business moves faster than ever, we want to modernise and elevate the brand in a design that is simple and elegant, yet unquestionably Mastercard."“We’ve been on a fantastic trajectory, with digital technology being an increasingly important part of our business,” Rajamannar added.Now it’s time for our brand to embody the company we’ve become.The company said designing a brand mark to work seamlessly across all digital platforms, retail channels and connected-devices, while preserving its heritage was key to the overall effort. It deemed this to be the “most comprehensive brand design system ever introduced globally within Mastercard.”The evolved brand identity will be rolled out to all Mastercard products, communications, and experiences, starting with Masterpass later this month, and across Mastercard beginning in the fall.https://youtu.be/KW4fLE6OyQkJust last week, Mastercard unveiled the foundation for the future of commerce with the new Masterpass global digital payment service. This enhanced solution enables consumers to look no further than their own bank or credit union to make fast, simple and secure digital payments – across devices and channels – anywhere they want to shop be it online, in app and now in-store with contactless.Consumers will now be able to use Masterpass at the more than five million merchant locations in 77 countries that accept contactless payments.The rollout of Masterpass-enabled solutions from issuers in the US begins later this month.Europe and the Middle East/Africa will be the next markets where the converged Masterpass solution will be live by the end of 2016. Additional rollout of the enhanced Masterpass service in North America, Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean, Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific will continue through 2016 and in to 2017.