Fans in the fast lane

Welcome to Inside the Circles, your scoop on the people, tech and trends shaping the digital economy and beyond. 

Papaya fans, rejoice! 

McLaren Racing and Mastercard last week announced an expansion of their partnership, with Mastercard becoming the team’s official naming partner starting in 2026. That means the team, with its iconic papaya-colored liveries, will be named the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team. Mastercard will also debut “Team Priceless,” to provide special experiences and access for the McLaren faithful. 

Mastercard, which started sponsoring McLaren last November, became the racing team’s first naming partner in more than a decade. 

“We wanted it to be the right partner, with the right long-term commitment, with the same values as McLaren, and a brand that we felt could add value off the track,” McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said in The Athletic. “If you look at Mastercard, what they’ve historically done in other sports, the amount of reach they have, how global they are, it’s a perfect fit for us.” 

Tying into this news, the Mastercard Newsroom revved up a series of automotive and transportation-related stories this past month, including: 

• The race toward software-defined vehicles, or SDVs 
• How new technology, including EV charging and real-time parking info, could change the auto economy 
• A profile on two startups, Episode Six and UbiRider , working together to ease transit payment frustrations 

Retail realities 

Brands need to manage through a lot of uncertainty these days, with shifting supply chain dynamics and changing consumer purchasing habits. In the new white paper, “Commerce in flux: Navigating uncertainty through experimentation,” the Mastercard Services team shares several strategies companies are using to adapt. 

Rock steady 

Stablecoins have been making headlines all year, thanks to new regulations and many more people starting to use these crypto tokens. Interested in learning more about them? Here’s our explainer story and video: 

ICYMI 

Momentum in Malaysia: The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth is teaming up with ASEAN-BAC Malaysia to host the first-ever Mastercard ASEAN Inclusive Growth Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 24. More here on the summit. And hear about the event from Center founder Shamina Singh here and Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach here. 

Eco espresso: The Eden Project , a UK-based educational charity and botanical garden, introduced at its cafes RFID-enabled reusable cups for hot drinks, which customers can return at reverse vending machines to get a deposit back. The circular program, which Mastercard helped develop, is estimated to save 220,000 cups every year while also saving the gardens tens of thousands of dollars. Read more about the program here. 

Circle of friends: Mastercard and global stablecoin operator Circle expanded their partnership in Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa region. Check out the coverage in The Fintech Times here.