It doesn't seem surprising at all. The blockchain tech has proved to be far more efficient in transactions, so companies like Mastercard are just taking the normal desitions.
Now, using the blockchain doesn't mean to develop a crypto coin, but neither it would be surprising as well.
International Banks as Santander, for instance, has been using blockchain in a partnership with ripple (
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/12/santander-launches-blockchain-based-foreign-exchange-using-ripple-tech.html). Even before, Visa launched the first phase of blockchain b2b payments (November, 2017:
https://www.coindesk.com/visa-launches-first-phase-of-blockchain-b2b-payments-system/).
To me, it seems normal for the banking system to adopt the blockchain technology. The expertize in this kind of technology will determine what banks are on the vanguard of the industry, so maybe it will be the beginning of a race of looking for how to apply the new technology and, probably, about getting the patents of the technology implementation first.
The first payment system in getting patent related to the use of the blockchain in centralized transactions probably will see big amounts of money in the future.
That's just a guess.
