Mastercard

Mastercard Inc. (stylized as MasterCard from 1979 to 2016, mastercard from 2016 to 2019) is the second-largest payment-technology corporation worldwide. It offers a range of payment transaction processing and other related-payment services (such as travel-related payments and bookings). 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 and is 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.
 
Category:Credit cards
Category:Credit card issuer associations
Category:Financial services companies of the United States
Category:Contactless smart cards
Category:Online payments
Category:Former cooperatives of the United States
Category:Multinational companies headquartered in the United States
Category:Financial services companies based in New York (state)
Category:Companies based in Purchase, New York
Category:American companies established in 1966
Category:Financial services companies established in 1966
Category:1966 establishments in New York (state)
Category:Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Category:2006 initial public offerings
Category:Companies in the Dow Jones Global Titans 50