Making shopping easier and more efficient is the goal of MasterPass, the new technology unveiled today by MasterCard.

Building on its PayPass Wallet service, the new functionality of MasterPass will allow shoppers to do things like scanning bar codes and making purchases while avoiding the checkout queue.

MasterPass also will take advantage of securely stored payment information to enable consumers to pay for items and have them shipped to a default address with a single touch.

For the merchant, the ability to create their own branded digital wallet may be one of the more enduring appeals of MasterPass. These wallets will be open, allowing consumers to store any debit or credit card, including non-MasterCard cards, on the app.

MasterPass will support both barcode scans and NFC, as well as QR codes, tags, and mobile devices. The service will be available in Canada and Australia initially, and is expected to arrive in the UK by late spring, and the United States by summer.

MasterCard was last on the Finovate stage in the fall of 2011. See its demo here.