Mastercard has selected We. Communications as its new communications partner, replacing Ketchum after nearly 14 years, Marketing Edge can authoritatively reveal.

The appointment follows a rigorous, nearly six-month competitive review and comes almost nine months after the appointment of Jill Kramer as Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Mastercard, offering a glimpse into the evolution of the company’s global marketing and communications operations.

Mastercard is entering a new chapter as payments increasingly intersect with artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, agentic commerce and new forms of value exchange.

Reports emerged in January that Mastercard was working with Google and Microsoft to help shape standards for agentic commerce, focusing on trust, identity and secure payments as AI agents increasingly act on consumers’ behalf.

The new communications challenge therefore stretches beyond Mastercard’s traditional consumer-facing “Priceless” story to explaining the company’s role in increasingly complex technological and financial infrastructure to consumers, businesses and other stakeholders.

Melissa Waggener Zorkin, founder and global CEO of We. Communications, confirmed the appointment, saying she was “incredibly proud” that Mastercard had selected the agency as its new communications partner following the competitive review.

“Mastercard is entering an important new chapter,” she said, noting that for nearly 30 years, Priceless has helped make Mastercard one of the world’s most recognised brands.

“Today, the company sits at the centre of some of the biggest forces reshaping business and society: AI, agentic commerce, cybersecurity, the future of how value gets exchanged and changing expectations of brands and businesses,” she added.

The loss of the Mastercard account constitutes a significant setback for Ketchum. Mastercard first assigned its U.S. PR duties to Ketchum in 2012, with the partnership producing award-winning work, including Mastercard’s “True Name” initiative.

Earlier this year, Ketchum underwent a merger with Golin, representing a strategic consolidation of Omnicom’s public relations portfolio following its acquisition of Interpublic Group for $13.3 billion.

Mastercard’s move also underscores the growing competition between large consolidated agency networks and independent firms seeking to offer greater agility and specialised expertise.

According to We. Communications, its independence will enable it to assemble a tailored team and bring in expertise based on Mastercard’s evolving ambitions.

The relationship will begin at the enterprise level, with additional scope and regional work expected to roll out in phases. Initial onboarding is already underway.

The appointment will be closely watched by the communications industry as Mastercard seeks to evolve its brand narrative and strengthen its engagement around some of the technological and societal forces reshaping the global economy.