Masters of Scale The AI agents in your wallet, with Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach
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Jan 13, 2026 
Michael Miebach, the CEO of Mastercard, explores the latest holiday shopping trends revealing a 3.9% growth amidst changing consumer sentiments. He discusses the integration of AI in enhancing financial security, addressing risks like fraud and deepfakes. The conversation dives into the impact of crypto and digital wallets on traditional credit cards and the rise of agent-driven commerce. Miebach emphasizes the importance of trust and protection in payments, while also highlighting innovations like universal tokenization by 2030.
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Payments Data Reveals Real-Time Consumer Signals
- Mastercard's transaction dataset gives a global, high-frequency view across 220 countries and 160 billion transactions annually.
- That view reveals trends like early holiday buying and strong apparel growth, signaling savvy consumer behavior.
Invest For Multi-Year Payment Shifts
- Mastercard sees long-term shifts (speed, safety, intelligence) as the drivers for where payments should head.
- They plan multi-year investments to make payments smarter, faster, and safer rather than react weekly to short-term changes.
Provide Payment Choice At Checkout
- Offer multiple payment choices to meet consumer preferences across stablecoins, push payments, and buy now, pay later.
- Make those options available via network partners so merchants can present them at checkout.