MasterCard from MasterCard Incorporated is one of the most useful payment systems in the world. Founded in the year 1966 and headquartered in Purchase, New York, it is the number two payment system in the US. It serves around 25,000 member financial institutions all over the world.
It has a wide network with its services in over 210 nations of the world. And to talk about statistics, there are over 23 million locations around the world where its credit and debit cards are accepted. To add to the statistic, there are about 1,000,000 ATMs in more than 120 countries. It provides transaction authorization network and establishes and issues guidelines to its members.
To add a little of history, MasterCard brands of credit cards were first issued by United California Bank, the Bank of California, Wells Fargo, and Crocker Bank. That was also the time when Bank of America came out with its credit card brand BankAmericard, which later became the Visa Card. The stiff competition that we see today between MasterCard and Visa Card can be traced back to those early days.
Like BankAmericard, MasterCard was first known as Master Charge. California banks licensed this name from the First National Bank of Louisville, Kentucky in 1967. Then another development took place when the present HSBC Bank USA which was known as New York's Marine Midland Bank at that time, joined hands with California banks to create the "Master Charge: The Interbank Card". In the year 1979, "Master Charge: The Interbank Card" was renamed as MasterCard.
The latest development happened earlier this year in 2006, when MasterCard International was re-christened as MasterCard Worldwide. And as the name suggest, the exercise was done so as keep in line with its ever widening global network. It also came out with a new corporate logo and a new tagline. An additional circle was added to the already existing two. "The Heart of Commerce" is its new tagline.
Apart from MasterCard, Maestro, Cirrus and MasterCard Electronic; MasterCard Incorporated also deals in travelers’ check. All these programs are licensed to the financial institutions.
The leading shareholders of MasterCard are
JPMorgan Chase , Citigroup, Bank of America, Euro Kartensysteme, and Europay France. Of these JPMorgan Chase has the largest shareholding with 11.8 percent followed by Citigroup with 6.2 percent, Bank of America with 6.0 percent. Euro Kartensysteme has 5.2 percent, while Europay France has 5.0 percent stake.
MasterCard's board of directors as of December 2004 are represented by Europay España, S.A., Clarima Banca, Capital One, HSBC, Citigroup, Banamex (Citigroup's Mexican division), The Royal Bank Of Scotland, MBNA America, which is now acquired by
Bank of America , Southern Bank Berhad, Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel, Westpac Banking Corporation, Deutscher Sparkassen-und, Bank of Montreal, Giroverband, and Orient Corporation.
Among the brands, the most popular are the MasterCard brands of credit and debit cards. Its credit cards have all the standard feature of any other credit card and are designed to meet the credit demand of all kinds of individuals. Its debit cards are used in ATMs to withdraw money and also at point-of-sales, provided there is enough balance (remaining credit limit) to purchase the item. MasterCard distributes MasterCard debit card in North America under the name ‘MasterMoney’.
MasterCard credit cards have one of the most reasonable Annual Percentage Rates. Other features like annual fee, credit limit, introductory offer, reward program are also attractive enough to entice potential customers. No doubt, it is one of the leading payment systems in the US.
MasterCard also has a round-the-clock customer assistance service. In case of loss or theft of card, you can report immediately to its toll-free numbers. If you are in the US, you can note down this number, 1-636-722-7111. If you are a regular traveler, it is worth to note down the assistance number of the country you are going to visit.
The latest service from MasterCard is MasterCard® SecureCode™. This service is meant to boost the protection system when you shop online.
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