MasterCard Debit Growth

Looking for a Credit Card for Christmas Shopping? Before you submit a credit card application, first review the main points which will help you choose the right credit card for your needs.

What Charges You'll Make - If you're going to use the credit card mainly for booking airline reservations and hotels, it might be best for you to get a travel credit card that offers sky miles and hotel points or cashback. If this will be an emergency credit card only, then your main concern may be for a low interest rate credit card with low fees.

When You'll Repay Charges - Will you pay off credit card charges in full every month, or will you carry a balance month to month? If you're going to carry a balance, you want the lowest possible interest rate as well as a low introductory rate. But if you'll payoff balances in full every month, then interest rate really doesn't matter so no annual fee and/or a long grace period would be a bigger concern. If you're going to carry a balance, be concerned about how the finance charge is calculated. The most common method is the Average Daily Balance, which means that the daily balances are added together and then divided by the number of days in the billing cycle. Stay away from credit cards that compute the balance using two billing cycles, as this method costs more money in financing fees.

What Amount You'll Charge - If you're going to use the credit card for all your monthly expenses, then you need a card that has a high credit limit and a high cashback percentage.

More info about Interest Rates, Credit Limits, Incentives, Fees and Penalties

Interest Rates - The interest rate (Annual Percentage Rate) APR can either be a fixed rate or a variable rate that is tied to another financial indicator, most commonly the prime rate. With a fixed rate credit card you know what the interest rate will be every month, whereas a card with a variable rate can fluctuate. Of course, even the interest of a fixed rate card can change based on certain events, such as paying your credit card bill late, exceeding your limit, or simply because the credit card issuer decides to change it after providing you ample advance notice.

Credit Limit - This is the amount of money the credit card company will let you charge to the card. This amount varies depending upon the card offer and your credit history. Be sure to get a credit card with an ample limit, because getting close to your max can hurt your credit score. Just remember that you don't have to max out your limit just because it's available.

Incentives - To compete for and to gain customers, many credit card companies offer rewards. Even if you normally use cash, why not use your credit card and then use the cash to make the payment during the grace period? You still won't pay interest and meanwhile you'll rack-up rewards. A credit card with 5% cashback will earn you $5 for every $100 charged. If your total bills come to $2,000 per month, you'll earn a free $100 every month. Look for a rewards program that you'll use and which offers flexibility, such as cashback or travel.

Fees and Penalties - Compare common charges such as late fees, overlimit fees, balance transfers, cash advances, and for making payments by telephone. Regarding balance transfers, look for credit card offers with no transaction fees and zero percent interest for at least 12 months.

Affiliate Program

» Articles » News » MasterCard Debit Growth

Credit Federal

Personal loan and credit card resource serving millions of good and bad credit U.S. consumers.

View all news by Credit Federal...

MasterCard Debit Growth

By Credit Federal | Published 01/14/2006

MasterCard debit card growth: MasterCard Reports Continued Online Debit Growth in Third Quarter

The Maestro brand mark now appears on 582.2 million cards worldwide, including 37.1 million MasterCard debit cards, representing 3.4 percent growth versus the third quarter of 2004.

Merchant acceptance of MasterCard's online debit programs also continued to expand. As of September 30, 2005, consumers can make online debit point of sale purchases with their MasterCard- or Maestro -branded cards at nearly 9.4 million merchant locations globally. There were nearly 1.1 million MasterCard/Cirrus ATMs around the world at the end of the quarter.

"Debit continues to displace cash and check as the preferred means of payment for a growing number of cardholders," said Richard G. Lyons Jr., senior vice president, MasterCard International. "MasterCard has built strong momentum in its debit business, as we look to combine the convenience, flexibility and security of our products with an unmatched global acceptance network that offers cardholders around the world a better way to pay."

Regional Results:

- In the United States, there were 396,000 ATMs in the MasterCard ATM Network and 1.6 million merchant locations that accepted Maestro and Cirrus cards at the close of the quarter. The number of Maestro-branded cards in the U.S. increased to 53.4 million, which includes 34.3 million debit MasterCard cards that also bear the Maestro logo and 19.1 million Maestro-branded cards.

- Canada also experienced continued growth, with the number of cards reaching 7.7 million at the end of the quarter. There were 45,700 ATMs in the MasterCard ATM Network and 13,800 merchant locations that accepted Maestro-branded cards.

- Our South Asia, Middle East and Africa region experienced strong growth in Maestro-branded cards, to 37.7 million cards issued in the region at the end of the third quarter. There were 30,500 ATMs in the MasterCard ATM network, and the number of merchant locations that accepted Maestro-branded cards stood at 272,700 at the close of the quarter.

- Issuance of Maestro cards increased throughout Latin America, reaching 88.1 million cards at the end of the third quarter. There were 49,600 ATMs in the MasterCard ATM network, and over 866,100 merchant locations that accepted Maestro-branded cards.

- Maestro-branded cards in circulation in Europe grew to 258.3 million. There were 345,300 ATMs in the MasterCard ATM network at the end of the quarter. The number of merchant locations that accepted Maestro-branded cards stood at over 6.1 million.

- In the Asia/Pacific region, the number of Maestro-branded cards issued was 137.0 million as of September 30, 2005. There were 230,200 ATMs in the MasterCard ATM network and, the number of merchant locations that accepted Maestro-branded cards stood at 468,300 at the close of the quarter.

Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking information. Although MasterCard believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its objectives will be achieved. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information contained in this press release include: global political and economic conditions; MasterCard's ability to achieve its strategic objectives; the performance of MasterCard's member financial institutions and the nature of MasterCard's business relationships with these institutions; substantial and increasingly intense competition in the global payments industry; the success of MasterCard's global advertising, sponsorship, promotion and merchant acceptance initiatives; the functionality and security of MasterCard's transaction processing systems; MasterCard's ability to adapt to industry trends with technological and payment program innovations; the resolution of certain legal proceedings and regulatory actions; changing market dynamics and the other risk factors disclosed in MasterCard Incorporated's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. MasterCard disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information.

Share this Financial Article with a Friend - click here

Webmasters: Free Financial Content for Your Website!

Multiple ways to use our financial content:

1) You can use our RSS Feeds for automatic insertion and updates

2) You can simply link to this article

3) You can copy/paste the HTML code below (do not remove any links).

MasterCard Debit Growth - by <a href=http://creditfederal.com>CreditFederal.com</a> MasterCard <a href="http://creditfederal.com/debit-card.html">debit card</a> growth: MasterCard Reports Continued Online Debit Growth in Third Quarter The Maestro<IMG src="http://creditfederal.com/article/content_images/registered.jpg"> brand mark now appears on 582.2 million cards worldwide, including 37.1 million MasterCard<IMG src="http://creditfederal.com/article/content_images/registered.jpg"> debit cards, representing 3.4 percent growth versus the third quarter of 2004. Merchant acceptance of MasterCard's online debit programs also continued to expand. As of September 30, 2005, consumers can make online debit point of sale purchases with their MasterCard- or Maestro<IMG src="http://creditfederal.com/article/content_images/registered.jpg"> -branded cards at nearly 9.4 million merchant locations globally. There were nearly 1.1 million MasterCard/Cirrus<IMG src="http://creditfederal.com/article/content_images/registered.jpg"> ATMs around the world at the end of the quarter. "Debit continues to displace cash and check as the preferred means of payment for a growing number of cardholders," said Richard G. Lyons Jr., senior vice president, MasterCard International. "MasterCard has built strong momentum in its debit business, as we look to combine the convenience, flexibility and security of our products with an unmatched global acceptance network that offers cardholders around the world a better way to pay." Regional Results: - In the United States, there were 396,000 ATMs in the MasterCard ATM Network and 1.6 million merchant locations that accepted Maestro and Cirrus cards at the close of the quarter. The number of Maestro-branded cards in the U.S. increased to 53.4 million, which includes 34.3 million debit <a href="http://creditfederal.com/mastercard-credit-card.html">MasterCard cards</a> that also bear the Maestro logo and 19.1 million Maestro-branded cards. - Canada also experienced continued growth, with the number of cards reaching 7.7 million at the end of the quarter. There were 45,700 ATMs in the MasterCard ATM Network and 13,800 merchant locations that accepted Maestro-branded cards. - Our South Asia, Middle East and Africa region experienced strong growth in Maestro-branded cards, to 37.7 million cards issued in the region at the end of the third quarter. There were 30,500 ATMs in the MasterCard ATM network, and the number of merchant locations that accepted Maestro-branded cards stood at 272,700 at the close of the quarter. - Issuance of Maestro cards increased throughout Latin America, reaching 88.1 million cards at the end of the third quarter. There were 49,600 ATMs in the MasterCard ATM network, and over 866,100 merchant locations that accepted Maestro-branded cards. - Maestro-branded cards in circulation in Europe grew to 258.3 million. There were 345,300 ATMs in the MasterCard ATM network at the end of the quarter. The number of merchant locations that accepted Maestro-branded cards stood at over 6.1 million. - In the Asia/Pacific region, the number of Maestro-branded cards issued was 137.0 million as of September 30, 2005. There were 230,200 ATMs in the MasterCard ATM network and, the number of merchant locations that accepted Maestro-branded cards stood at 468,300 at the close of the quarter. Forward-Looking Statement This press release contains forward-looking information. Although MasterCard believes that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its objectives will be achieved. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information contained in this press release include: global political and economic conditions; MasterCard's ability to achieve its strategic objectives; the performance of MasterCard's member financial institutions and the nature of MasterCard's business relationships with these institutions; substantial and increasingly intense competition in the global payments industry; the success of MasterCard's global advertising, sponsorship, promotion and merchant acceptance initiatives; the functionality and security of MasterCard's transaction processing systems; MasterCard's ability to adapt to industry trends with technological and payment program innovations; the resolution of certain legal proceedings and regulatory actions; changing market dynamics and the other risk factors disclosed in MasterCard Incorporated's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. MasterCard disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information. This article provided courtesy of <a href=http://creditfederal.com target=_new>www.CreditFederal.com</a>, a personal credit resource of good or bad credit credit cards and loans.

Credit Tip: Need a high limit for Christmas credit card charges? If you have bad credit, consider a personal loan by refinancing your mortgage. Even if you have cash to buy Christmas presents, we recommend using a prepaid card to make purchases because it's safer than carrying cash.