The Economy of the Future Is Being Built Today: Mastercard and Its Partners Open New Opportunities for Digital Moldova

“The economy of the future is being built today, and the pace of Moldova’s digital transformation in many ways exceeds that of numerous European markets. When consumers are open to innovation, financial institutions actively implement new solutions, and the ecosystem as a whole—fintech companies, merchants, and public authorities—moves in the same direction, the results speak for themselves. This is precisely what is happening in Moldova, where Mastercard, together with its partners, is opening new opportunities and positioning the country well for the next stage of economic growth. We as Mastercard are ready to support this growth through our technology, expertise, and global network,” said Irina Untila, Country Manager of Mastercard in Moldova, during the event.

A decade ago, the conversation about Moldova’s digital future was framed mostly around potential—what the country could become, given the right conditions, the right infrastructure and the right ecosystem alignment. Today, much of that potential is tangible. 

Public services have expanded online, regulatory frameworks have evolved to support greater openness and innovation, and cashless payments have become an integral part of everyday life. According to Mastercard data, nearly every point-of-sale payment in the country is now contactless; every second in-store transaction with a Mastercard card is made using a smartphone or other NFC-enabled device, and recent surveys show that 70% of cardholders actively use digital banking, with half of them stating they are ready to fully switch to digital channels within the next two to three years.

This progress reflects more than technological adoption — it is the result of long-term coordinated work across the financial, retail, and public sectors. 

“For twenty-five years, Mastercard has been consistently developing the digital economy of the Republic of Moldova together with our partners—banks and fintech companies that accelerate innovation and bring new solutions to consumers; retailers that set new standards of convenience by adopting digital services; and public institutions that drive systemic transformation and lay foundations for future innovation and digital economy growth. Our joint effort—the projects we design and implement together—has enabled the remarkable progress we see today and helped Moldova become one of the most advanced contactless markets in the region. We are grateful to each of our partners for being part of this shared digital journey,” said Irina Untila.

Irina Untila’s recent promotion to Vice President demonstrates that Moldova’s progress is increasingly visible at the regional level— and that the country's voice now carries even more weight in the conversations where Mastercard's Eastern Europe strategy is shaped. “Moldova is confidently advancing on its digital transformation journey, and our role as a global technology company is to strengthen  this momentum in the areas where our expertise can have the greatest impact,” Irina Untila added.

One example of this approach is last year’s Memorandum of Understanding signed between Mastercard and Moldova’s e-Governance Agency. The cooperation focuses on expanding digital payments within public services, supporting financial education for small and medium-sized enterprises, modernizing payment infrastructure, and strengthening cyber resilience.

“For decades, Mastercard has been working with governments around the world to support their digital transformation priorities. This new and important milestone in our collaboration with the e-Governance Agency strengthens our joint efforts to unlock new opportunities for digital economy growth and to provide consumers with more secure and convenient solutions,” emphasized Irina Untila.

THREE PRIORITY DIRECTIONS

As Moldova’s digital transformation continues to take shape, several natural questions arise. How can this digital potential be leveraged to generate a real and sustainable economic advantage? How to redesign businesses around data and artificial intelligence? How can financial services be integrated into consumers’ everyday lives? And, equally important, how can we ensure that innovation remains secure, resilient, and trusted?

Irina Untila outlines three priority directions: the responsible use of data, the integration of financial services into everyday life, and strengthening trust in the digital ecosystem.

“Digitalization is not the end goal,” she notes. “The next question is how to effectively use the ecosystem and infrastructure we have built. How to activate data responsibly to better meet the evolving consumer needs and expectations. How to strengthen trust. And how to design solutions that create sustainable value for companies and for the economy as a whole.”

It was precisely this forward-looking perspective that shaped the discussion during Mastercard’s executive business event.

MICHAEL CLARK ON THE ECONOMY OF THE FUTURE

The keynote speech was delivered by special guest Michael Clark, a Mastercard consultant specializing in artificial intelligence and data, whose connection to Moldova traces back to 2019. In his earlier role as Mastercard's Vice President and Global Head of Digital Transformation, he arrived to work on what would become the company's first open banking platform — built in six months with a development team based in Moldova and eventually working effectively across the markets. At the Chișinău event, Clark outlined the trends that will shape ‘the next economy’.

According to the expert, what we are witnessing is more than just another wave of innovation. It reflects a broader economic transition. Technology no longer sits on the side of business; it shapes how organizations grow, how decisions are made and where value accumulates.

THE NEW FOUNDATIONS OF THE ECONOMY

Across economies and industries, value creation is undergoing a structural shift. Intelligence is becoming a fundamental element of the modern economy, much as electricity or the internet once were. Ownership is giving way to access. Trust, identity, and access to data are no longer supporting functions, they are now economic inputs.

This opportunity is not theoretical. Globally, revenue is already shifting toward propositions built on open access, embedded finance, identity, data-driven insight, and agent-led execution. Markets that align regulations, digital infrastructure, and institutional coordination early can move faster, test solutions safely, and capture disproportionate value .

Artificial intelligence, data, and automation are becoming foundational elements underpinning  payments, commerce, logistics, healthcare, and public services. Advantage no longer comes from access alone, but from how intelligently these capabilities are applied and governed.

New propositions only scale successfully when global shifts align with local execution capabilities. The Republic of Moldova is strategically interesting because several readiness layers are converging at the same time – digital maturity, regulatory momentum, technical talent, and open banking operationalized.

Crucially, Moldova is defining the how, not just the what. Regulations around strong customer authentication and secure communication between payment service providers establish the plumbing required for trusted third-party access and ecosystem propositions. In all these areas, Moldova’s digital maturity indicators allow piloting and scaling propositions faster, with lower coordination risk and shorter time-to-market than larger, more fragmented markets.

MAJOR OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FINANCIAL SERVICES MARKET

Embedded finance takes the capabilities unlocked by open banking and places them directly inside everyday journeys. Rather than pulling customers into financial products, finance appears exactly where action occurs, checkout, onboarding, fulfilment, or service delivery.

Data has gradually become one of the most valuable assets organizations possess. When treated deliberately, data becomes a source of sustained advantage rather than short-term optimisation.

According to Michael Clark, data creates economic value in three reinforcing ways: internal optimization by improving decision quality, reducing cost, increasing margins, and shortening cycles across operations, risk, and service delivery; product and service enhancement by adding intelligence overlays such as insight, forecasting, personalisation, and decision support; external monetization by exchanging trusted, anonymised insights through APIs, partnerships, or marketplaces.

AI AGENTS: A NEW TYPE OF ECONOMIC ACTOR

Artificial intelligence marks the point where data stops being passive and starts producing economic leverage. Today, AI is most commonly monetised through decision support, forecasting, optimisation, automation, and service augmentation. These use cases translate directly into economic value via cost reduction, faster approvals, improved accuracy, and the ability to scale.

The next inflection point occurs when AI systems move beyond recommendations into execution. Agent-based systems initiate actions, coordinate workflows, and transact on behalf of people or organisations. This introduces a fundamentally new actor into the economy: a non-human decision-maker and payer.

THE ECONOMY OF THE FUTURE

No organization can go alone in the new economy. The most scalable propositions now emerge from ecosystems, where collaboration enables speed, reach, and shared capability.

As systems become more autonomous and data-driven, customers, partners, and regulators expect transparency, control, and accountability to be embedded into how data, AI, and payments operate, not layered on after the fact.

PEOPLE AS THE DIFFERENTIATOR

Leaders must invest in skills that enable people to work alongside all new digital propositions as well as AI: critical thinking, decision oversight, ethical reasoning, and systems understanding. Technology scales capability, but people determine whether that capability creates value or harm.

Upskilling becomes a strategic imperative, not an HR initiative. Investing in people alongside technology is critical, as people remain the decisive advantage.

NOT ALGORITHMS, BUT LEADERS WILL DECIDE THE FUTURE

Three trajectories are now clearly forming: agent-to-agent commerce, open and tokenised data ecosystems, and digital wallets evolving into gateways for identity, data, and value. These trajectories will reshape how value is created, exchanged, and governed across economies.

The organisations that succeed will not be those that move fastest, but those that design deliberately, embedding trust, collaboration, inclusion, and governance into every proposition.

This is not a technological challenge.
It is a leadership one.