According to recently published patent applications on the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), MasterCard has applied for four patents related to its work on blockchain technology, CoinDesk reported.

Three of the applications name Steven Charles Davis as the sole inventor, while the last one also names Ashish Raghavendra Tetali as an inventor. The four applications are:

Method and system for fraud control of blockchain-based transactions

Method and system for processing blockchain-based transactions on existing payment networks

Method and system for integration of market exchange and issuer processing for blockchain-based transactions

Method and system for linkage of blockchain-based assets to fiat currency accounts

"Accordingly, the use of traditional payment networks and payment systems technologies in combination with blockchain currencies may provide consumers and merchants the benefits of the decentralized blockchain while still maintaining security of account information and provide a strong defense against fraud and theft”, MasterCard wrote in the applications.

The news follows the publishing of three blockchain APIs by MasterCard on its developer site. The credit card giant said that these APIs will give developers the chance to work on emerging technologies that haven’t yet been commercialized.

“These APIs will help financial institutions, merchants, and technology companies to build new applications, enhance and scale their businesses and to reach new sets of customers around the world”, it said.

Besides MasterCard, the USPTO has also published patent applications surrounding blockchain technologies from companies including Blockstream, ShoCard, Nasdaq, Digital Asset Holdings and others in recent months.