Mastercard

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Payment-processing corporation

• Industry

  Global payments business, technology company

• Headquarters

  Purchase, New York, United States

• Founding Date

  1966-01-01

• Official Name

  Mastercard Inc.

• Original Name

  Interbank Card Association (ICA)

• Previous Name

  Master Charge

• Primary Business

  Processing payments between banks of merchants and card-issuing institutions

• Global Acceptance

  More than 210 countries and territories

• Number of Employees

  33,400

• Annual Revenue (2023)

  $14.43 billion

• Publicly Traded Since

  2006

• Ownership (prior to IPO)

  Cooperative owned by over 25,000 financial institutions

• Businesses Accepting Cards

  More than 37 million worldwide

• Debit Cards in Circulation (estimated 2023)

  1.55 billion

• Credit Cards in Circulation (estimated 2023)

  1.03 billion

Timeline

• Mastercard was established as the Interbank Card Association (ICA) by an alliance of several banks and regional bankcard associations. (Source: summary, wikidata, dbpedia, web_search_results)

  1966-01-01

• The United Kingdom's popular Access card joined the ICA consortium. (Source: web_search_results)

  1972

• Master Charge: The Interbank Card was renamed MasterCard. (Source: web_search_results)

  1979

• Mastercard made important inroads in Asia and South America, and became the first payment card issuer in the People's Republic of China. (Source: web_search_results)

  1980s

• Mastercard International Inc. became the first bank to use holograms as part of their card security. (Source: web_search_results)

  1983

• Mastercard acquired the Cirrus network of automated tellers. (Source: web_search_results)

  1985

• The Access brand name was discontinued and assimilated by Mastercard. (Source: web_search_results)

  1997

• Mastercard was the main sponsor of the Mastercard Lola Formula One team, which withdrew from the 1997 Formula One season due to financial problems. (Source: web_search_results)

  1997

• Mastercard began sponsoring Jordan Grand Prix, continuing through the end of the 2001 Formula One season. (Source: web_search_results)

  1998

• Mastercard became a publicly traded company. (Source: summary, dbpedia, web_search_results)

  2006

• Mastercard withdrew its sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup after a court settlement, with rival Visa taking up the contract. (Source: web_search_results)

  2007

• Mastercard returned to Formula One after signing a multi-year sponsorship deal with McLaren Racing. (Source: web_search_results)

  2024-07

• McLaren Racing announced Mastercard as the team's official partner. (Source: web_search_results)

  2025-08

Web Search Results

• The Amazing Story of Mastercard: History and Making Money

  Mastercard, along with Visa, is one of the card processing network giants that help enable money transfer between consumers and merchants. Whether it is in person, on your iPhone, or online, Mastercard is there to help make our payments easier. Learning the history of a company like Mastercard and how it operates helps give you a better insight into any investment you make. History often shapes the future, and understanding the background helps us determine possible futures. [...] Like Visa, and contrary to popular belief, Mastercard is not in the credit card business. Mastercard is part of the duopoly, along with Visa, connecting consumers and merchants globally, enabling the moving of money easily. Mastercard helps provide the infrastructure that allows banks (financials) and merchants to communicate with each other. [...] Mastercard, originally known as Interbank before becoming Master Charge, began in 1966. The company began as an alliance of several regional bankcard associations reacting to the success of BankAmericard, which was issued by Bank of America, later known globally as Visa.

• Mastercard Inc. | History, Master Charge, IPO, & Facts - Britannica

  Mastercard Inc. is an international payment card services corporation established in 1966. It provides various financial services in more than 210 countries and territories, and its branded credit cards and debit cards are accepted by more than 37 million businesses worldwide. The company is headquartered in Purchase, New York, with 33,400 employees worldwide. It became a publicly traded company in 2006. ## Founding and early growth [...] Mastercard was established by a group of banks eager to break into the burgeoning national credit card market. It found success through various popular financial services, savvy mergers and acquisitions, and global expansion. Today, the company is the second largest card issuer, behind Visa, with an estimated 1.03 billion credit cards and 1.55 billion debit cards in circulation worldwide, and annual revenue of $14.43 billion as of 2023. Don Vaughan [...] The United Kingdom’s popular Access card joined the consortium in 1972; that brand name was discontinued in 1997 when it was assimilated by Mastercard. The ICA continued to expand internationally, and in the late 1970s, renamed itself Mastercard International. In the 1980s, Mastercard made important inroads in Asia and South America and became the first payment card issuer in the People’s Republic of China.

• Mastercard - Wikipedia

  In 1979, Master Charge: The Interbank Card was renamed MasterCard. In 1983, Mastercard International Inc. became the first bank to use holograms as part of their card security. They acquired the Cirrus network of automated tellers in 1985. [...] Mastercard sponsors major sporting events and teams throughout the world. These include rugby's New Zealand, the MLB, the UEFA Champions League and the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational. Previously, it also sponsored the FIFA World Cup but withdrew its contract after a court settlement and its rival, Visa, took up the contract in 2007. It also partners the Brazil national football team and the Copa Libertadores. [...] In 1997, Mastercard was the main sponsor of the Mastercard Lola Formula One team, which withdrew from the 1997 Formula One season due to financial problems having failed to qualify its first race . The team also sponsored Jordan Grand Prix from the 1998 season through to end of the 2001 Formula One season. In July 2024, Mastercard returned to Formula One after signing a multi-year sponsorship deal with McLaren Racing. In August 2025, McLaren Racing announced Mastercard as the team's official

• Brand History - Mastercard

  Mastercard had its origins in the late 1940s when several U.S. banks gave their customers specially-issued paper that could be used like cash in local stores. Over the next decade, several franchises evolved in which a single bank in a major city would accept cards as payment with certain merchants they had chosen to work with. In 1966, one of these groups formed the Interbank Card Association (ICA), which later became MasterCard International. [...] As a technology company in the global payments business, we use technology and data-driven insights to make electronic payments more convenient, secure, and efficient for people everywhere. [...] ## Mastercard is committed to driving initiatives that build global acceptance, recognition, and preference for our brands. The result is superior value for all of our stakeholders: financial institutions, merchants, governments, businesses, and consumers. 1967

• Empowering small and medium enterprises to grow your business

  Please accept functional cookies to watch this video. > Mastercard is a committed partner, aligned with our vision to transform how companies of all sizes, including SMEs, operate and grow. Leonardo Ramos Country Manager, Clara ## Small business solutions ### Payment solutions Empower SMEs with secure payments, spending controls and productivity tools to stay on budget and grow their business. Explore solutions ### Acceptance

• Country

  United States

• Employees

  33,400

• Instance Of

  Q43229

• Headquarters

  Purchase

• Inception Date

  1/1/1966

Mastercard Inc. is the second-largest payment-processing corporation worldwide. It offers a range of financial services. Its headquarters are in Purchase, New York. Throughout the world, its principal business is to process payments between the banks of merchants and the card-issuing banks or credit unions of the purchasers who use the Mastercard-brand debit, credit and prepaid cards to make purchases. Mastercard has been publicly traded since 2006. Mastercard (originally Interbank then Master Charge) was created by an alliance of several banks and regional bankcard associations in response to the BankAmericard issued by Bank of America, which later became Visa, still its biggest competitor. Prior to its initial public offering, Mastercard Worldwide was a cooperative owned by the more than 25,000 financial institutions that issue its branded cards.