Michael Miebach

CEO of Mastercard

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Key positions and views

The future of payment security is predictive and biometric; Mastercard is actively working to eliminate passwords from its network by 2030 in favor of authentication via modalities like facial scans.

Mastercard's growth model is a hybrid, balancing the scale of its core payment network with a rapidly expanding, high-margin services business focused on areas like cybersecurity and data analytics.

Large technology companies like Apple represent the most significant long-term competitive threat due to their scale and potential to build proprietary payment networks, making partnership and ecosystem integration critical.

Financial inclusion is a strategic imperative that expands the total addressable market for digital payments, justifying major corporate commitments like the goal to onboard 1 billion people.

Emerging markets, particularly in Africa, will 'leapfrog' legacy banking infrastructure, creating a massive growth opportunity in mobile-first financial services that requires direct investment and partnership.

Podcast consensus on Miebach

Points of consensus

▶Miebach consistently frames Mastercard as a technology and security company, emphasizing heavy, long-term investments in AI, cybersecurity, and biometrics as central to its strategy.Apr 2026

▶A core tenet of Miebach's vision is the transition to a passwordless future, with a firm corporate goal of replacing traditional passwords with biometric authentication by 2030.Apr 2026

▶Financial inclusion is presented as a strategic business driver, not just a philanthropic effort, with a stated goal of bringing 1 billion people into the digital economy to expand the total addressable market.Apr 2026

▶Miebach's growth strategy is diversified, relying on a combination of core payment processing (60% of revenue) and a rapidly growing portfolio of payment-related services like cybersecurity (40% of revenue).Apr 2026

Points of debate

▶Miebach highlights a strategic tension with Big Tech, acknowledging companies like Apple as a significant long-term competitive threat that could build their own networks, while simultaneously citing the successful collaboration with Apple on tokenization for Apple Pay.Apr 2026

▶He presents a global strategy that must adapt to starkly different market maturities, contrasting the need to invest in Africa's mobile-first, leapfrogging ecosystem (e.g., MTN investment) with the challenge of navigating Europe's fragmented market of established, local payment solutions.Apr 2026

▶Miebach champions Mastercard's role as a global network connecting 220 countries, yet also acknowledges the rise of sovereign digital currency initiatives, such as the European Central Bank's push for a digital euro, which could alter the international payments landscape.Apr 2026

▶He positions Mastercard as a key player in securing the financial system, citing an $8 billion investment in cybersecurity, while also noting the immense scale of the problem, with global fraud losses reaching nearly $500 billion annually.Apr 2026

Key themes

▶Proactive Defense Through Security and AIApr 2026

Miebach details a strategy centered on massive investment in security infrastructure, totaling $8 billion over five years. This includes using generative AI to predict fraud before it happens and acquiring leading threat intelligence firms like Recorded Future to bolster capabilities.

Mastercard is strategically repositioning itself from a payment processor to a core technology and security provider, creating a significant competitive moat and a high-margin services business that now accounts for 40% of revenue.

▶Pioneering a Passwordless, Biometric FutureApr 2026

Miebach articulates a clear vision to eliminate passwords from the Mastercard network by 2030. He predicts that within a decade, biometric authentication using face, palm, or eye scans will become the standard for securing transactions, a shift underpinned by the company's tokenization technology.

This is a high-stakes bet on user convenience and enhanced security driving the next wave of payment innovation, aiming to set a new industry standard and preempt competitors by fundamentally changing the point-of-interaction experience.

▶Growth Through Strategic Ecosystem IntegrationApr 2026

Miebach's growth strategy involves embedding Mastercard into key emerging and established ecosystems through partnerships, investments, and acquisitions. This is evidenced by the collaboration with Apple on Apple Pay, the $200 million investment in MTN's mobile money business in Africa, and the launch of the StartPath fintech incubator.

Rather than solely competing, Miebach's approach is to ensure Mastercard's relevance by becoming indispensable infrastructure for partners, whether they are Big Tech players, regional telecom giants, or emerging fintech startups.

▶Financial Inclusion as Market DevelopmentApr 2026

Miebach emphasizes Mastercard's corporate goal of bringing 1 billion people into the digital economy, supported by initiatives like the Mastercard Foundation and the $500 million Impact Fund. This is framed not just as a social good but as a fundamental expansion of the company's future customer base.

This long-term strategy views the unbanked and underbanked populations, particularly in mobile-first regions like Africa, as the next major growth frontier for digital payments, justifying significant upfront investment.

Source episodes

Sentiment over time

Not enough data for timeline

Changes over time

2006

The Mastercard Foundation was established during the company's IPO, funded by an allocation of 11% of the company's stock.

2015

Mastercard set its initial goal to bring 500 million people into the digital economy.

Last 5 years

Miebach states that Mastercard has invested $8 billion in cybersecurity capabilities over this period.

2020

The company renewed and doubled its financial inclusion commitment, setting a new goal to bring a total of 1 billion people into the digital economy.

Last 3 years

Miebach specifies that Mastercard has been actively investing in generative AI technology during this timeframe.

Present

Miebach discusses recent strategic moves, including a planned acquisition of Recorded Future and a $200 million investment in MTN's financial services arm.

Suggested prompts

How does Miebach's strategy of acquiring cybersecurity firms like Recorded Future position Mastercard against non-traditional competitors in the tech sector? &nearr;What are the primary privacy, regulatory, and adoption risks associated with Mastercard's 2030 goal to move entirely to biometric authentication? &nearr;How does the 60/40 revenue split between core payments and services reflect Miebach's long-term vision for the company's business model and future growth? &nearr;Based on the investment in MTN, how does Miebach's approach to the mobile-first African market differ from the strategy for the fragmented, bank-led European market? &nearr;

Key concepts

Cybersecurity 4 ep Artificial Intelligence 3 ep Biometric Authentication 3 ep Financial Inclusion 3 ep Strategic Investments & Acquisitions 4 ep Tokenization 2 ep Competitive Threats 1 ep Market Dynamics (Europe & Africa) 3 ep Business Model & Revenue 2 ep Digital Currencies 1 ep

Notable quotes

“We've just announced that by 2030 we will have no more one-time passwords, no more passwords. all going to be authentic biometrically authenticated payments, i.e. with your face by 2030.”

Michael Miebach · Michael Miebach - CEO of Mastercard | Podcast | In Good Company | Norges Bank Investment Management

“today with the help of generative ai we're not only fraud scoring an existing transaction we're able to predict in the same fashion I just described what a fraudster might do we predict what is the next likely fraudulent transaction that's coming”

Michael Miebach · Michael Miebach - CEO of Mastercard | Podcast | In Good Company | Norges Bank Investment Management

“core payments is about 60 percent of our revenue and 40 percent of our revenue is related to payments related services”

Michael Miebach · Michael Miebach - CEO of Mastercard | Podcast | In Good Company | Norges Bank Investment Management

“And Apple, in theory, could decide, because they're so large, to do payments themselves without us.”

Michael Miebach · Michael Miebach - CEO of Mastercard | Podcast | In Good Company | Norges Bank Investment Management

Report last updated: Apr 21, 2026

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