MasterCard demonstrated its newest digital innovations including MasterPass, MasterCard Digital Enablement System (MDES) and wearable technology during a press event at the grand opening of its new technology hub in New York City. MasterCard also showcased its MDES tokenization service enabling Apple Pay. The global payments and technology company houses emerging payments teams in the technology community in the Flatiron district.

"New York City is one of the world's preeminent technology and product talent pools, and we see our Flatiron office as critical input for our continued global innovation," said Ajay Banga, chief executive officer at MasterCard. "The payments industry is being redefined in the digital age, and the office builds upon our Dublin, Singapore and St. Louis hubs, reinforcing our commitment to developing the most cutting-edge payment technologies."

The NYC Technology Hub is home to product and technology teams collaborating in an open design environment to enable rapid prototyping and bringing digital payments products to market quickly and efficiently. Housed across three floors and 60,000 square feet of space at 114 Fifth Avenue, the NYC Tech Hub allows MasterCard to engage engineers and developers, collaborate with customers and put MasterCard at the center of a rich technology talent pool.

The office space was designed by architectural firm Gensler and features an open floor plan space for over 200 employees.

The Tech Hub is home to the following teams:

· MasterPass: Dedicated to providing a convenient, simple and secure online checkout capability, the MasterPass team works with merchants and issuers to allow for all kinds of digital transactions--in-store, in-aisle, in-app and online.

· Digital Enablement System: The MDES team is at the forefront of developing solutions that eliminate the need to store payment data such as plastic credit card numbers. MDES provides digital tokens for more secure systems, including the one powering Apple Pay.

· OpenAPI: MasterCard Open API and the Developer Zone are the access points to connect developers and entrepreneurs to the incredible data resources, state-of-the-industry products and services and the unrivaled security of the world's largest and only truly global payments network - MasterCard. In addition to providing access to the APIs, the Open API/Developer Zone is supporting the developer community and driving engagement through conferences, hackathons, meetups, and other events.

· MasterCard Labs: With presence in Dublin, Singapore and St. Louis already, NYC will be another key location for MasterCard Labs, the company's research and development function tasked with fast-tracking innovative products and services to bring them to market quickly.

· Start Path(tm): Part of MasterCard Labs, Start Path nurtures early stage startups to collaboratively accelerate the future of commerce. The new hub's prime location in the New York City technology scene provides fantastic opportunities for successful partnerships and close collaboration.