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56-641: Europay International was a financial company. It was created by the merger of Eurocard International and Eurocheque International and was headquartered in Waterloo, Belgium , on the same premises as EPSS (European Payment Systems Services) and MasterCard EMEA (the MasterCard region comprising Europe, the Middle East and Africa). It merged with MasterCard International to form MasterCard, Inc in 2002. During its existence it was, along with Visa , one of

112-494: A Commerce Commission lawsuit alleging price-fixing by Visa and Mastercard. In New Zealand, merchants pay a 1.8% fee on every credit card transaction. The European Union has repeatedly criticized Mastercard for monopolistic trade practices. In April 2009, Mastercard reached a settlement with the European Union in an antitrust case, promising to reduce debit card swipe fees to 0.2 percent of purchases. In December 2010,

168-467: A class-action lawsuit filed in January 1996 for debit card swipe fee price fixing. The litigation cites several retail giants as plaintiffs, including Wal-Mart , Sears, Roebuck & Co. , and Safeway . In 1996, four million merchants sued Mastercard in federal court for making them accept debit cards if they wanted to accept credit cards and dramatically increasing credit card swipe fees. This case

224-479: A cooperative of banks, had an initial public offering on May 25, 2006, selling 95.5 million shares at $ 39 each. The stock is traded on the NYSE under the symbol MA, with a market capitalization of $ 434 billion as of April 2024. The deal was designed to maintain the value of the brand and minimise regulatory costs. In August 2010, MasterCard Worldwide, as it had been rebranded, expanded its e-commerce offering with

280-518: A 10% reduction of the fine however, in return for Mastercard acknowledging the facts and cooperating with the antitrust investigation. In February 2021, following an investigation by the British Payment Systems Regulator , Mastercard admitted liability for breaching competition rules in relation to pre-paid cards. Mastercard, Visa, and other credit cards have been used to fund accounts since online gambling began in

336-422: A Mastercard credit card, which it remains today). The Interbank branding in 1966 initially consisted only of a small unobtrusive lowercase i inside a circle in the lower right-hand corner of the front of each Interbank card; the rest of the card design was the prerogative of each issuing bank. This tiny logo proved to be entirely unsatisfactory for creating nationwide brand awareness in order to compete against

392-639: A class action by ATM operators that claim the credit card networks' rules effectively fix ATM access fees. The suit claims that this is a restraint of trade in violation of federal law. The lawsuit was filed by the National ATM Council and independent operators of automated teller machines. More specifically, it is alleged that Mastercard's and Visa's network rules prohibit ATM operators from offering lower prices for transactions over PIN-debit networks that are not affiliated with Visa or Mastercard. The suit says that this price-fixing artificially raises

448-409: A class-action lawsuit filed in 2005 by merchants and trade associations against Mastercard and Visa. The suit was filed due to alleged price-fixing practices employed by Mastercard and Visa. About one-fourth of the named class plaintiffs have decided to opt-out of the settlement. Opponents object to provisions that would bar future lawsuits and prevent merchants from opting out of significant portions of

504-853: A company with a portfolio of intellectual property in the areas of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Brighterion holds several patents . In April 2021, Mastercard created a calculator that gathers information and measures the carbon footprints of the customers in order to help them know how much they are contributing in carbon emissions and global warming. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , Mastercard complied with United States sanctions and banned cards from being issued or used in Russia, including foreign cards from other countries. Mastercard suspended all business operations in Russia , which had accounted for 4% of their revenue. However, bank cards themselves continue to work in Russia due to

560-648: A complaint with the European Commission claiming the closure by Visa and Mastercard of Datacell's access to the payment card networks violated the competition rules of the European Community. On July 12, 2012, a Reykjavík court ruled that Valitor , Visa and Mastercard's partner in Iceland, had to start processing donations within fourteen days or pay daily fines to the amount of ISK 800,000 (some $ 6000) for each day after that time, to open

616-461: A group of online activists Anonymous organized a denial-of-service attack ; as a result, the Mastercard website experienced downtime on December 8–9, 2010. On December 9, 2010, the servers of Mastercard underwent a massive attack as part of an Operation Avenge Assange for closing down payments to WikiLeaks. The security of thousands of credit cards was compromised during that attack due to

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672-527: A phishing-site set up by the attackers. However, Mastercard denied this, stating that account data had "not been placed at risk". WikiLeaks' spokesman said, "We neither condemn nor applaud these attacks." U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that closing down credit lines for donations to WikiLeaks "could be interpreted as an attempt to censor the publication of information, thus potentially violating WikiLeaks' right to freedom of expression". In July 2011, Iceland -based IT firm DataCell,

728-548: A range of payment transaction processing and other related-payment services (such as travel-related payments and bookings). 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 )

784-469: A regional bankcard association, a unit bank could quickly add a credit card to its lineup of financial products, and achieve economies of scale by outsourcing tedious back office tasks like card servicing to the association. Such associations also enabled unit banks to aggregate their customer bases and merchant networks in order to make a credit card useful for both customers and merchants; early credit cards had failed because they could only be used within

840-615: A senior official from the European Central Bank called for a break-up of the Visa/Mastercard duopoly by the creation of a new European debit card for use in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). WikiLeaks published documents showing that American authorities lobbied Russia to defend the interests of Visa and Mastercard. In response, Mastercard blocked payments to WikiLeaks. Members of

896-495: A single company, Europay International S.A., and were relocated to Waterloo, Belgium . This location also housed the Europe, Middle East and Africa region of MasterCard International, and the seat of the joint venture of Eurocard MasterCard, Maestro International . In 2002, Europay International and MasterCard International merged. The name Europay disappeared, and the new organisation was later renamed MasterCard Worldwide , with

952-542: A small radius around their respective issuing banks. In 1966, Karl H. Hinke, an executive vice president at Marine Midland Bank , asked representatives of several other banks to meet him in Buffalo, New York . Marine Midland had just launched its own regional bankcard in the Upstate New York market after Bank of America declined its request for a BankAmericard regional license on the basis that Marine Midland

1008-476: A wager. The Independent Community Bankers of America specifically requested information about a new online gambling merchant category code . Mastercard has dedicated MCC 7801 to online gambling. This code is distinct from 7800 for government owned lotteries and 7802 for government licensed horse and dog tracks. In December 2010, Mastercard blocked all payments to whistleblowing platform WikiLeaks due to claims that they engage in illegal activity. In response,

1064-566: The Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue. Operating a payment processing network entails risk of engaging in anticompetitive practices due to the many parties involved (that is, the customer and their bank and the merchant and their bank). Few companies have faced more antitrust lawsuits both in the US and abroad. Mastercard, along with Visa, engaged in systematic parallel exclusion against American Express during

1120-590: The European Parliament expressed concern that payments from European citizens to a European corporation could apparently be blocked by the United States and called for a further reduction in the dominance of Visa and Mastercard in the European payment system. In 2013, Mastercard was under investigation by the European Union for the high fees it charged merchants to accept cards issued outside

1176-484: The Reserve Bank of Australia required that interchange fees be dramatically reduced, from about 0.95% of the transaction to approximately 0.5%. One notable result has been the reduced use of reward cards and increased use of debit cards. Australia also prohibited the no surcharge rule, a policy established by credit card networks like Visa and Mastercard to prevent merchants from charging a credit card usage fee to

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1232-568: The interchange fees of the country where a retailer was located. The Commission concluded that Mastercard's rules prevented retailers from benefitting from lower fees and restricted competition between banks cross border, in breach of EU antitrust rules . The infringement of antitrust rules ended when Mastercard amended its rules due to the entering into force of the Interchange Fee Regulation in 2015, which introduced caps on interchange fees. The Commission did grant Mastercard

1288-523: The 1980s and 1990s. Mastercard used exclusivity clauses in its contracts and blacklists to prevent banks from doing business with American Express. Such exclusionary clauses and other written evidence were used by the United States Department of Justice in regulatory actions against Mastercard and Visa. Discover has sued Mastercard for similar issues. Both Mastercard and Visa have paid approximately $ 3 billion in damages resulting from

1344-568: The Baltic countries. In other former Eurocard markets, such as the German speaking countries, this brand was fully replaced by the MasterCard brand. MasterCard Worldwide Mastercard Inc. , stylized as MasterCard from 1979 to 2016 and as mastercard from 2016 to 2019, is an American multinational payment card services corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York , USA. It offers

1400-559: The Cirrus network of automated tellers in 1985. In 1997, MasterCard took over the Access card; the Access brand was then retired. In 2002, MasterCard International merged with Europay International , another large credit-card issuer association, of which Eurocard had become a part in 1992. MasterCard became a Delaware corporation in connection with the merger, as well as in anticipation of an IPO. The company, which had been organized as

1456-719: The EU via a ruling by the European Commission in 2007. The European Commission said that their investigation also included large differences in fees across national borders. For instance, a €50 payment might cost €0.10 in the Netherlands but eight times that amount in Poland. The Commission argues that Mastercard rules that prohibit merchants from enjoying better terms offered in other EU countries may be against antitrust law. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) praised

1512-422: The EU, compared to cards issued in the EU, as well as other anti-competitive practices that could hinder electronic commerce and international trade, and high fees associated with premium credit cards. The EU's competition regulator said that these fees were of special concern because of the growing role of non-cash payments. Mastercard was banned from charging fees on cross-border transactions conducted wholly within

1568-636: The ICA and Eurocard started a strategic alliance, which effectively allowed the ICA access to the European market, and for Eurocard to be accepted on the ICA network. The Access card system from the United Kingdom joined the ICA/Eurocard alliance in 1972. 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

1624-563: The Interbank Card Association entered into a strategic alliance , in which both issuer's cards would be accepted on either network. This allowed the ICA to get an instant European acceptance network, and Eurocard to get accepted worldwide. Eurocard International got the sole license to issue the ICA's Master Charge (later MasterCard) cards in Europe. In 1992, Eurocard International N.V., Eurocheque International C.V. and Eurocheque International Holding N.V. merged into

1680-477: The MasterCard acceptance mark as a product name. This means that the Eurocard name is still used on a card, although only the MasterCard logo is displayed at locations which accept MasterCard cards. The Eurocard logo is not used any more, as the acceptance mark is discontinued and merged into MasterCard. However, the use of Eurocard as a brand for MasterCard credit cards is limited to Scandinavian countries and

1736-638: The United States. The District Court's ruling on February 23, 2001, later upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit , sided with Mastercard. The Fifth Circuit also clarified the application of the Wire Act to illegal online gambling. The Court determined that the wire act only applied to gambling activities related to a "sporting event or contest". Therefore, the court could not conclude that Mastercard had violated

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1792-413: The Wire Act. When PASPA was overturned May 14, 2018, Mastercard had to provide new guidance to its member banks. It clarified that state location restrictions apply to the individual placing the wager, not the member bank processing the transaction. According to various state gaming laws, sports betting providers must use Internet geolocation to determine a customer's physical location prior to accepting

1848-411: The acquisition of DataCash , a UK-based payment processing and fraud/risk management provider. In March 2012, MasterCard announced the expansion of its mobile contactless payments program, including markets across the Middle East. In spring 2014, MasterCard acquired Australia's leading rewards program manager company Pinpoint for an undisclosed amount. In August 2017, Mastercard acquired Brighterion,

1904-479: The action against Mastercard. BEUC said interbank fees push up prices and hurt consumers. BEUC Director General Monique Goyens said, "So in the end, all consumers are hit by a scheme which ultimately rewards the card company and issuing bank." In January 2019, the European Commission imposed an antitrust fine of €570,566,000 on Mastercard for "obstructing merchants' access to cross-border card payment services", due to Mastercard's rules obliging acquiring banks to apply

1960-402: The cardholder. A surcharge would mitigate or even exceed the merchant discount paid by a merchant, but would also make the cardholder more reluctant to use the card as the method of payment. Australia has also made changes to the interchange rates on debit cards and has considered abolishing interchange fees altogether. As of November 2006, New Zealand was considering similar actions, following

2016-485: The company that enabled WikiLeaks to accept credit and debit card donations, said it would take legal action against Visa Europe and Mastercard, and that it would move immediately to try to force the two companies to resume allowing payments to the website. Earlier on December 8, 2010, DataCell's CEO Andreas Fink had stated that "suspension of payments towards WikiLeaks is a violation of the agreements with their customers." On July 14, 2011, DataCell announced they had filed

2072-428: The country. These newcomers promptly banded together into regional bankcard associations. One reason why most banks chose to join forces was that at the time, 16 states limited the ability of banks to operate through branch locations, while 15 states entirely prohibited branch banking and required unit banking. A unit bank can legally operate only at a single site and is thereby forced to remain very small. By joining

2128-596: The end of the 1960s, and the card became the dominant brand in North and Central Europe between 1970 and 2002. It was eventually replaced by the Mastercard brand in most locations, but its logo is still used in some countries. In 1965, Eurocard International N.V. was established, based in Brussels , as a not-for-profit membership association of European banks . Its operational entity was established as European Payment System Services (EPSS). In 1968, Eurocard International and

2184-619: The established leader, BankAmericard. In 1969, Interbank developed a new national brand, "Master Charge: The Interbank Card" by combining the two overlapping yellow and orange circles of the Western States Bankcard Association with the "Master Charge" name coined by the First National Bank of Louisville, Kentucky. That same year, First National City Bank joined Interbank and merged its proprietary Everything Card with Master Charge. In 1968,

2240-480: The following payment brands: Eurocard (charge card), Eurocheque (paper-based pan-European cheque system), ec travellers' checque (paper-based European travelers' checks ), and Clip (European e-purse based on Common Electronic Purse Specification). It also held the European licenses of MasterCard (credit card) and Maestro (online debit card, joint-venture with MasterCard International). Eurocard (payment card) Its operations were relocated to Belgium in

2296-697: The headquarters in Waterloo renamed MasterCard Europe. In 2008, Eurocard was taken over by the Swedish Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken . Eurocard has always been the dominant brand in Central European countries, more specifically in Germany , the Netherlands and Austria . It lagged behind Visa in southern European countries, such as Spain and France . Today, the Eurocard name exists in combination with

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2352-507: The logo of the tournament. After announcing the plan in June 2001, in 2002, Europay International merged with MasterCard International to form MasterCard, Inc. Today the combined company is known as MasterCard Worldwide. In 2002, Europay International held a conference in Dublin, Ireland and noted "card fraud had increased as the use of cards had grown." Europay International was the owner of

2408-759: The mid-1990s. On March 20, 2000, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana , reviewed motions in Re: MasterCard International Inc. regarding multi-district litigation alleging Mastercard illegally interacted with a number of internet casinos. The plaintiffs alleged, among other claims, that Mastercard had violated the Federal Wire Act . They sought financial relief for losses suffered at online gambling sites outside

2464-598: The payment gateway. Valitor also had to pay DataCell's litigation costs of ISK 1,500,000. In 2014, pursuant to an agreement between Mastercard and the Nigerian Government , acting through the National Identity Management Commission, the new Nigerian ID cards bear the Mastercard logo, contain personal database data and double as payment cards , irrevocably linking such payments to the individuals, sparking criticism by

2520-475: The price that consumers pay using ATMs, limits the revenue that ATM operators earn, and violates the Sherman Act 's prohibition against unreasonable restraints of trade. Johnathan Rubin, an attorney for the plaintiffs said, "Visa and Mastercard are the ringleaders, organizers, and enforcers of a conspiracy among U.S. banks to fix the price of ATM access fees in order to keep the competition at bay." In 2003,

2576-574: The proposed settlement. Plaintiffs allege that Visa Inc. and Mastercard fixed interchange fees , also known as swipe fees, that are charged to merchants for the privilege of accepting payment cards. In their complaint, the plaintiffs also alleged that the defendants unfairly interfere with merchants from encouraging customers to use less expensive forms of payment such as lower-cost cards, cash, and checks. A settlement of $ 6.24 billion got preliminary approval in November, 2019. A settlement of $ 5.54B

2632-672: The transfer of internal transactions to the Russian National Card Payment System . On November 17, 2023, the Chinese government approved the local bank card clearing license for the joint venture established by Mastercard in China. On May 9, 2024, the joint venture can issue Mastercard bank cards that use RMB for payment. In September 2024, Mastercard acquired cybersecurity company Recorded Future for $ 2.65 billion. As of 2024, Mastercard ranked 164 on

2688-438: The two credit card processors that dominated the European market. The EMV payment system, now a de facto standard for debit and credit cards, was named from Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, the three companies that proposed its usage. In 1993, Europay International SA and MasterCard International announced they would form a single transaction-processing network. In 1995, it partnered with IBM . In 2001, Europay International

2744-513: Was a disaster, it began to turn a profit by May 1961. Bank of America deliberately kept this information secret and allowed then-widespread negative impressions to linger in order to ward off competition . This strategy was successful until 1966, when BankAmericard's profitability had become far too big to hide. From 1960 to 1966, there were only 10 new credit cards introduced in the United States, but from 1966 to 1968, approximately 440 credit cards were introduced by banks large and small throughout

2800-490: Was approved in 2019. Certain merchants appealed the settlement and were heard. The case is ongoing as of October 2022 . In October 2010, Mastercard and Visa reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department in another antitrust case. The companies agreed to allow merchants displaying their logos to decline certain types of cards (because interchange fees differ), or to offer consumers discounts for using cheaper cards. Mastercard, along with Visa , has been sued in

2856-540: 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. Although BankAmericard's debut in September 1958

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2912-403: Was headquartered in Waterloo, Belgium and owned by a number of European financial institutions, with Mastercard International owning a 12 percent share. Europay, along with Visa , dominated the European credit card market during its existence. By June 1994, it had issued 100 million cards, representing 56% of Europe's total market, although Visa still led in terms of dollar volume. Until 1994, it

2968-474: Was settled with a multibillion-dollar payment in 2003. This was the largest antitrust award in history. In 1998, the Department of Justice sued Mastercard over rules prohibiting their issuing banks from doing business with American Express or Discover. The Department of Justice won in 2001 and the verdict withstood appeal. American Express also filed suit. On August 23, 2001, Mastercard International Inc.

3024-480: Was sued for violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. On November 15, 2004, Mastercard Inc. paid damages to American Express , due to anticompetitive practices that prevented American Express from issuing cards through U.S. banks, and paid $ 1.8 billion for settlement. On November 27, 2012, a federal judge entered an order granting preliminary approval to a proposed settlement to

3080-585: Was the dominant credit card processor in German-speaking countries and Northern Europe, but after that it lost ground to Visa in the north but gained market share in the south of Europe. By 1996, Europay represented 71% of all European debit cards, and 56% of combined debit and credit cards. In 2000, Europay International was an official sponsor of the Euro 2000 football competition, meaning that credit cards issued by participating banks could optionally carry

3136-481: Was too big. The result of the Buffalo meeting was that several banks and regional bankcard associations soon agreed to join forces as Interbankard, Inc., which then became the Interbank Card Association (ICA). By the end of 1967, ICA had 150 members and Hinke became ICA's chairman. Bank of America eventually joined MasterCard as well. (In the 21st century, Bank of America would revive the BankAmericard brand name as

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