Mastercard Inc. Overview 

Mastercard Inc.

Introduction

Mastercard Inc is a Fortune 500 company and the 2nd world’s largest payment processing company with its foundation deeply rooted in the United States. The company is a multinational corporation offering a broad spectrum of financial services to every interested and qualified customer. Its headquarters s based in Purchase, an area in the New York axis and it planted its branches across all major countries of the world. It primarily severs as an intermediary and transaction processing agency between card issuers which are usually banks or credit unions of a purchaser ( the buyer) and the banks of merchants (the seller). Mastercard products are available to users in different categories, credit cards, debit cards, as well as prepaid cards to enable them to make purchases while leveraging the card options that best suit their needs. Since its inception, the company has evolved exponentially extending from one continent to another. It, however, has one biggest competitor in the marketplace which is Visa — a payment processing brand owned by Bank of America.  

Key Facts & Statistics  

Founding Year: Mastercard, Inc was founded in the year 1966, approximately 66 years ago.      

Industrial Ranking: Ranked as the 2nd largest payment processing corporation with Visa card topping the list. Mastercard, Inc is also ranked in Forbes and Fortune lists respectively. Typically, according to Forbes Magazine, Mastercard, Inc is ranked in the 96th position of America’s Best Employers 2022 list. Additionally, The company is also ranked amongst America’s Best Employers By State list in the year 2022. Also, Mastercard, Inc ranked in the 190th position on Fortune 500 2022 list.   

Company Type: A Public Corporation     

Market Reach: Mastercard, Inc is one of the companies that strive to attain global saturation of their products and services, ensuring it reaches every sphere of human endeavor. The company owned a cooperative enterprise under the name Mastercard Worldwide which over 25, 000 financial institutions across the globe leverage to issue Mastercard branded cards. 

Trading Type: Mastercard, Inc is traded is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) market in class A, under the ticker symbol, MA. The corporation’s stock is a component of the S&P 100 and S&P 500 respectively.   

Industry Type: Financial Services, Payment Processing 

ISIN: US57636Q1040 

Workforce Strength: As of May 2022, according to Fortune Magazine publication, Mastercard, Inc has a total number of  24, 000 employees in its workforce globally.  

Official Website: www.mastercard.com 

Historical Background 

Previously founded under the name, Interbank, Mastercard,Inc was established in collaboration with many banks as well as regional bankcard associations n order to create strong competition in the marketplace against Bank of America following the release of its Visa card product. 

In the year 1966, the convergence and unitary collection of several representatives from top banks merged to form a card issuing association under the name, Interbank Card Association (ICA). However, a year following the creation of the cohort, 1967, ICA recorded a total number of 150 members who are top banks from different states and counties, and cities across the country. In that year, the association elected Hinke as the body’s chairman. 

In the year 1969, Interbank Card launched a newly developed national product tagged with the name, Master Charge: The Interbank Card. The product view enclosed two-overlapping colors of the orange and yellow circle representing the Western States Bankcard Association. However, in the same year 1966, another major bank operating under the name, First National City Bank joined the ICA. FNCB brought in one of its brands under the name, Everything Card and had it merged with Master Charge. 

In the year 1968, ICA entered into a partnership with Eurocard with the collaboration allowing ICA to have access to the European market as well as Eurocard the ability to leverage the American marketplace. 

In the year 1972, following the collaboration of ICA and Eurocard to form the ICA/Eurocard alliance, a company operating in the United Kingdom under the name, The Access joined the newly merged association. 

In the year 1979, the name Master Charge: The interbank Card was branded, Mastercard. And in the year 1983, MasterCard International Inc. emerged as the first financial institution to use holograms as part of the corporation’s card security. A couple of years after that, Mastercard, Inc bought a network of automated tellers, under the name, Cirrus in the year 1985. 

In the year 1997, Mastercard, Inc became the absolute owner of the Access card which led to the name, Access card being dropped. 

In the year 2002, Mastercard Internation was merged with one of the largest credit card issuing associations under the name Europay International. However, in the year 2006, Mastercard, Inc entered the public market with its first Initial Public Offering (IPO) valued at $95. 5 million USD at $39 USD per share. 

In the month of August 2010, upon the rebranding of the former association name, ICA  into Mastercard Worldwide, the newly rebranded association extended its operations into the electronic commerce marketplace (e-commerce) following the purchase of a United Kingdom-based payment processing system under the name, DataCash. 

In the year 2011, Mastercard, Inc alongside Visa Europe received a lawsuit from an Iceland-based IT company that allows Wikileaks to receive credit card and debit card donations, operating under the name, DataCell.  

In the year 2012, Mastercard, Inc made it known to the public its intention to expand its mobile contactless payment program to major countries across the world with the inclusion of marketplaces in the Middle East region. 

In 2014, during the springtime, Mastercard, Inc bought an Australia-based company dealing with rewards program managers under the name, Pinpoint in an undisclosed deal. In the same year 2014, Mastercard, Inc stepped into Nigeria with an agreement with the federal government of Nigeria in conjunction with the National Identity Management Commission. The agreement led to the appearance of the Mastercard logo on the Nigerian national ID card which was, however, criticized by Civil Right Activists that the development portrays a notion of a stamped ownership of a Nigerian being owned by an American corporation. 

Additionally, in the same year 2014, September, Mastercard, Inc stepped into a collaborative agreement with Apple, Inc in a bid to integrate a new mobile wallet feature into Apple, Inc mobile devices including iPhone and Apple watch. The service is tagged Apple Pay which allows users to maximize the use of their MasterCard as well as other credit cards.   

In the year 2017, Mastercard, Inc bought an AI-focused company with several intellectual properties and patents in its portfolio, operating under the name, Brighterion.   

In the year 2018, a press release emanating from Bloomberg News made it known to the public the agreement between Google and Mastercard, Inc regarding credit card data issues, noting that Google had paid a substantial undisclosed amount to Mastercard to allow Google users to leverage credit card data for marketing and advertising purposes. 

In April 2021, Mastercard, Inc launched a product in form of a calculator that helps gather data and gauge the carbon footprints of clients in a bid to create awareness on how much they are contributing to environmental sustainability, carbon emissions as well as global warming. 

In the year 2022 as a result of the Russia-Ukraine War, Mastercard, Inc issued a ban on all its cards from being used or issued in Russia, with the inclusion of foreign Mastercard branded products following the compliance to the sanction of Russia issued by the United States.          

Services 

Payment processing 

Credit Card Issuing Services 

Debit Card Issuing Services 

Product Offerings 

Mastercard Contactless – A product including the services of debit and credit cards that lets users have access to their funds with just a finger tap on their card without having to punch in their pin codes.  

QkR – A Mobile payment application that lets users order products and services without hassle or stress via their smartphones.  

Debit Cards – A rectangular-shaped card that lets users have access to funds in their bank accounts (prepaid) which allows them to make payments for goods and services with certain transaction fees charged to their accounts.   

Credit Cards – A rectangular-shaped card that lets users have access to post-paid funds and make payments for goods and services with the principal amount and relevant fees charged to their account. 

Brands 

Cirus 

Maestro 

Masterpress 

Mondex

Financial Overview 

The below lines enumerate the company’s key financial snapshot as released by Fortune Magazine  

Revenue: $18. 884 Billion USD (Fortune 2022)  

Net Income (Profit): $8. 687 Billion USD ( Fortune 2022)  

Total Assets: $37. 669 Billion USD   (Fortune 2021)  

Total Equity: $514.9 Billion USD  (Forbes 2022)  

Operating Income: $10.8 Billion USD  (2021) 

Market Value: $349. 330 Billion USD (Fortune 2022) 

Partners 

AGRA 

American University of Beirut (AUB) 

Ashesi University College 

BFA 

Boulder Institute of Microfinance 

BRAC Uganda 

BRAC USA, Inc 

Camfed 

Canadian Bureau of International Education (CBIE) 

CAP Youth Empowerment Institute 

Caribou Digital 

Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU – Africa) 

Cornell University

Conclusion

As you might have observed throughout the sections above, the level with which Mastercard, Inc operates is somewhat unique as it is formed by the convergence of several top banks with adequate industry experience scattered across the world who had united to form the Mastercard Worldwide body, as a result, making the corporation emerge as one of the leading card-issuing companies across the world with some of its products, including Mastercard Contactless and QkR ranking as the industry’s finest products. However, that said, to an extent, this piece has dealt extensively with the major and vital aspects needed to have a vast knowledge of the offerings and overall business operations of Mastercard, Inc. Thus, I hope you would  rationalize your decision-making process whilst leveraging all the information here made available to you.