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Sentimental shoppers are investing more than ever before around Valentine’s Day according to the annual Mastercard Love Index which reveals spending has increased 138 per cent over the past decade. However, this year home is where the heart is as couples are planning to spend the day — and their money — differently.

Mastercard and NatWest Group today announced an expansion of their payments partnership by agreeing to convert all the Banking Group’s retail and business debit cards to Mastercard. The agreement includes all NatWest Group brands: NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank and Coutts, totalling 16 million cards.

Mastercard and women’s football is a long lasting story of more than 25 years as well as the relationship that has been built around two European clubs, Arsenal Women and Olympique Lyonnais in 2019, as well as with several ambassadors from France (Ada Hegerberg, Kadeisha Buchanan, Saki Kumagai, and Wendie Renard) but also across the channel (Alex Scott, Sam Kerr, Pernille Harder). Mastercard’s ambition is to contribute to the development of women’s football around the world, to support equality and to inspire fans and football enthusiasts.

‘Tis the season to be thoughtful, as new Mastercard research reveals that the average festive shopper is putting more time and effort into gifts for loved ones this Christmas – with three quarters (77 per cent) of Europe saying the year that was has reminded them what is important in life and 65 per cent saying they are being more thoughtful this Christmas.

Leading European payments fintech Contis today announced its partnership with Mastercard as a principal issuing member. Through this partnership, Contis delivers a comprehensive end-to-end Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform including direct access to both of the world’s leading global payments networks, accepted by millions of merchants worldwide.

TransferGo and Mastercard today have announced a partnership that enables customers across 20 European countries to make international money transfers from any payment card or bank account directly to a Mastercard debit or credit card.