MasterCard - Definition and Overview

MasterCard Incorporated is a membership organization owned by the 25,000 financial institutions that issue its card. MasterCard is also the company's brand of credit cards.

It was originally created as "Master Charge" by the United California Bank (now part of Wells Fargo) as a competitor to the BankAmericard issued by Bank of America. BankAmericard is now the VISA credit card, issued by Visa International. Other California banks involved in the founding of the original MasterCard were Wells Fargo, Crocker Bank, and the Bank of California

The name Master Charge was licensed by these California banks from the First National Bank of Louisville, Kentucky in 1967. These banks joined with the Interbank Card Assiocation (ICA) to create "Master Charge: The Interbank Card".

In 1980, "Master Charge: The Interbank Card" was renamed "MasterCard".

In the late 1990s, MasterCard merged with Access, in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and EuroCard, in Continental Europe, and quickly removed the old names from cards, ATMs and in-store validators.

MasterCard also owns the Cirrus ATM (cash machine) network, plus the Maestro debit card network as well as the Master Money debit card in the United States, which competes against Visa International's more successful Check card.

In early 2005, it was released that Citigroup owns six percent of MasterCard.

Diversity

Mastercard was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine.

See also

• VISA (credit card)

External link

• Official website (http://www.mastercard.com/mcweb/index.jsp)
• Yahoo! - MasterCard Incorporated Company Profile (http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/42/42177.html)