Mastercard®

Pioneering a new digital identity model

The interest surrounding digital security in the payments industry is intense. Hardly a day goes by without another story about identity theft. The rising threat has brought a vigorous response, leading to a complex and crowded security marketplace with overlapping security protocols and competing payment platforms. Rising above the noise and gaining differentiation poses a real challenge, even for the most innovative of new offerings.

In December of 2019, Mastercard embarked on tests of a groundbreaking digital service that has the potential to verify a person’s identity immediately, safely and securely in both the digital and the physical world. Mastercard’s unique model embodies privacy-by-design and does not aggregate identity data. It enables digital interactions to occur with minimal data exchanged and only when needed, and safeguards data and the use of data effectively such that the users are in control.

Standing apart while fitting in with the Mastercard family
To create a powerful brand and identity for the project, Mastercard turned to Tenet Partners. Working with the product development team, Tenet first needed to fully understand the capabilities of the product, how it differed from related offerings in the market and what role it would play in Mastercard’s global portfolio.

We discovered that the brand needed to balance a certain amount of autonomy with the right amount of Mastercard connection. The new brand had to stand out and deliver an instant connection to digital security, specifically identity protection. It also had to complement the Mastercard brand, providing a subtle link to the parent while simultaneously remaining entirely separate.

Respecting the masterbrand while pushing the envelope
The Tenet team grounded its work in the Mastercard design system while also exploring its limits. The name was straightforward and simple: “ID.” To reflect the unique nature of the product, the logo, visual system and UX components evoked the safety and privacy of the offering, visually representing the “mosaic” of data points that make up an individuals’ identity and the ability to only supply the necessary data required per interaction. Working with the Mastercard UX team, we co-developed user flows and guidelines regarding the vital relationships with trust providers and relying partners.