Payments Player Of The Week: MasterCard

Name: MasterCard
Headquarters: Purchase, New York 
Founded: 1966 
Employees: 5,500 
Market Capitalization: $86.5 billion 

Key Stats:
1. Q3 global purchase volume up 14%
2. Credit card users spent $590 billion in 6.3 billion transactions.
3. Debit card users spent $454 billion in 5.4 billion transactions.

Consumer Spending Fueled A Strong Showing
MasterCard surged past expectations on October 31 when it released its third-quarter earnings report citing year-over-year improvements across all categories: Overall, MasterCard reported net income of $879 million for the three-month period, a figure that was up 14 percent from 2012’s totals.

This sharp uptick was driven by increased card transaction volume. MasterCard’s 2 billion-strong cardholder base was out in full force and spending in the third quarter, a development that it thinks will bode well for MasterCard’s holiday numbers.

MasterCard processed approximately 10 billion transactions in Q3 – a 16 percent year-over-year rise, and saw a notable increase in lucrative cross-border volumes, which were up 19 percent from the third quarter of 2012.

Further, MasterCard revealed worldwide purchasing volume for credit and debit transactions on its network increased 14 percent to $763 billion. U.S. purchase volumes saw a 9 percent rise from 2012 to reach $267 billion.

MasterCard didn’t just deliver for investors, though. Overall, it was a well-rounded week that saw the company advancing its agendas across several key initiatives, introducing a newly launched corporate travel program, an important NFC initiative with DoCoMo in Japan and renewing its commitments to bringing financial inclusion to the world’s development markets.

New Products
Several MasterCard initiatives gained increased clarity this week, including key programs in the travel sector, where it introduced new solutions for businesses and consumers. Its prepaid travel play, while at first seemingly targeted only at select markets, was revealed to be a robust strategy targeted to those in developing markets who need a more reliable and safer way to travel without having to carry cash.

Complementing this strategy was a big data travel play targeted toward U.S. businesses. With the introduction of Travel Controller on October 22, MasterCard debuted a solution that could help businesses better control spending by corporate travelers in new and unique ways – a feature that many businesses have only been able to manage once travel was complete.

Quote of the Week: “Success is a global economy that’s actually closer to being truly global; where more people from more places are participating in it, contributing to it and helping it grow…where Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand is also a helping hand,” MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga at the Intel Capital Global Summit on October 22.