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Mastercard Partners Alibaba.com to Launch a New Credit Card

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Mastercard Incorporated (MA - Free Report) recently partnered with Alibaba Group Holding Limited’s (BABA - Free Report) business-to-business e-commerce platform Alibaba.com and the renowned fintech innovator, Cardless, to introduce a co-branded credit card. This card is branded as Alibaba.com Business Edge Credit Card. People will be able to apply for the card later this year. The credit card will carry an annual fee of $199.

The new credit card is designed to benefit small business owners for domestic and cross-border purchases via Alibaba.com. Buyers can reap rewards through cashback or special financing terms. The card offers a compelling rewards structure like a 3% cashback on Alibaba.com or 60-day interest-free payment terms for annual purchases up to $40,000, and 2% cashback on other business expenses like advertising and dining, outside the platform. For all other purchases, cardholders earn 1% cashback. This rewards program is designed to incentivize spending and drive higher transaction volumes.

Cardholders will also enjoy Mastercard World Elite perks, including enhanced cybersecurity protection and productivity tools. Daily task assistants, payroll management tools and enhanced savings are expected to benefit small business owners and attract new customers for Mastercard. The card features 90-day order protection through Alibaba.com’s Trade Assurance service, adding another layer of value for businesses.

Higher usage of the card due to the new features is expected to boost net revenues that MA derives from its payment network by charging fees to customers based on the gross dollar volume of the cards. Payment network net revenues improved 7% year over year in the second quarter. Mastercard seems to intensify its focus on growing through partnerships to unveil new card offerings.

Shares of Mastercard have gained 11.9% in the past year compared with the industry’s 8.9% growth.

Zacks Investment Research
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MA’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

MA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).  

Some better-ranked stocks in the Business Services space are Trane Technologies plc (TT - Free Report) and RCM Technologies, Inc. (RCMT - Free Report) . Trane Technologies and RCM Technologies sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The bottom line of Trane Technologies outpaced estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 8.05%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TT’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 19.7% from the year-ago reported figure. The consensus mark for revenues implies growth of 10.6% from the year-ago reported number. The consensus mark for TT’s earnings has moved 3.1% north in the past 30 days.

The bottom line of RCM Technologies outpaced estimates in three of the last four quarters and matched the mark once, the average surprise being 17.49%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RCMT’s 2024 earnings indicates an improvement of 10.4% from the year-ago reported figure. The consensus mark for revenues implies growth of 5.3% from the year-ago reported number. The consensus mark for RCMT’s earnings has moved 2.2% north in the past 30 days.

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