Mastercard is looking at ways to integrate its payments system into voice assistants made by Google and Amazon to let people pay by talking to a device, a top executive from the company told CNBC on Monday. The U.S. payments giant has a product called Masterpass that allows a user to upload credit card details and acts as an easy way to pay for things online. Recently, the company launched a facility for people to pay with Masterpass for products within Facebook Messenger. When they buy a product, Masterpass can be used to pay. It's a trend Mastercard is calling "conversational commerce" and it extends to voice too.

Humanoid robot'Pepper' will soon be taking orders in Pizza Hut locations across Asia. MasterCard announced this week that it is teaming up with SoftBanks Robotics and Pizza Hut Asia to launch a new commerce app for the customer service bot. Pepper will be able to make recommendations and complete transactions, and is expected to begin employment by the end of this year. Humanoid robot'Pepper' will soon be taking orders in Pizza Huts in Asia. MasterCard announced this week that it is teaming up with SoftBanks Robotics and Pizza Hut Asia to launch a new commerce app for the bot.

The company held an event to unveil two significant developments for its future: An enhanced version of the innovative Masterpass global digital payment service that's designed to positively change the way consumers conduct everyday transactions, and a first look at a new logo that symbolizes Mastercard's rebranding and evolvement as a more digitally driven company. The event marked the climax of two initiatives that have been years in the making. "Today marks, in our view, one of the seminal moments in the history of our company," said Craig Vosburg, Mastercard's president of North America markets, to event attendees in a room high atop New York City inside the Freedom Tower's 102nd floor. You may notice that the brand now uses a lowercase "c" in its logo, a seemingly subtle change that carries significant meaning. Mastercard used to go by "MasterCard," but taking away the capitalization shows that the emphasis is no longer on a physical card, according to Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Raja Rajamannar, who said, "In the digital world, the card is less relevant."

It was a worrying refusal that does not bode well for the future of humanity. In New York to help Mastercard launch its rebrand and a new mobile payment service, the machine answered several questions - but refused to reveal its ultimate ambitions, simply flashing its eyes. 'I was named Pepper as I'm here to spice up your life, and my nickname is Pepperoni,' the robot then told us. Pepper also revealed it knows the three laws of robots, which include not harming humans, adding'I think robots should love humans.' However, it also refused to answer whether is was looking to take our reporter's job, simply waving and saying goodbye at that point, cutting the interview short. Betty DeVita of Mastercard reveal the Pepper unit normally works in a Pizza restaurant.

It has taken me time to warm to the notion of robotics and Artificial Intelligence. But this year I have been working on a project which has created a need for me to hang out with IBM's NAO Robots, and immerse myself in the world of Artificial Intelligence, on a regular basis. And in doing so, I have collected my favourite use cases for organisations today. Dangerous and Dull Today in industries ranging from manufacturing, to mining, to the the aeronautics industry, there are tasks which, on one extreme are so dull and boring it is almost impossible to recruit resource to support, and on the other extreme, so dangerous that lives are regularly lost. Robots, infused with Artificial Intelligence (AI) are an awesome alternative to dull and dangerous .

Pizza Hut Asia and MasterCard have partnered to bring Pepper, SoftBank Robotic's humanoid robot, to restaurants by the end of this year to enhance in-store customer service. Pizza Hut Asia will be piloting Pepper for order-taking and personalised engagement. This marks the first commercial application for Pepper, according to MasterCard. Pepper, which was unveiled on Tuesday, will be powered by MasterPass, the global digital payment service from MasterCard that connects consumers with merchants, enabling them to make digital payments across channels and devices. MasterPass extends the robot's ability to integrate customer service, access to information and sales into a seamless and consistent user experience.

MasterCard has unveiled the first commerce application for Softbank's Pepper, with the humanoid robot to be trialled by Pizza Hut Restaurants Asia for order taking and payments processing. To use Pepper, a customer will need to pair their MasterPass account either by tapping the Pepper icon within the wallet or by scanning a QR code on the tablet that the robot holds. After pairing, Pepper will then be able to initiate, approve, and complete a transaction by connecting to MasterPass via Wi-Fi, with the transaction completed within the wallet on the customer's mobile device. "Consumers have come to expect personalised service, customised offers, and simple and seamless processes both in-store and online," Tobias Puehse, vice president, innovation management, Digital Payments & Labs at MasterCard said. "The app's goal is to provide consumers with more memorable and personalised shopping experience beyond today's self-serve machines and kiosks, by combining Pepper's intelligence with a secure digital payment experience via MasterPass."