Type: Public
On the web: http://www.mastercard.com
Employees: 5,600
Employee growth: 9.8%

Surpassing Visa in market share -- now that would be priceless. Serving approximately 22,000 member financial institutions worldwide, MasterCard is the #2 payment system in the US. The company does not issue credit or its namesake cards; rather, it markets the MasterCard (credit, debit, and prepaid cards) and Maestro (debit and prepaid cards, mainly in Europe) brands, provides a transaction authorization network, establishes guidelines for use, and collects fees from members. The company provides its services in more than 210 countries and territories, and its cards are accepted at more than 31 million locations around the planet. MasterCard also operates the Cirrus ATM network.

Key numbers for fiscal year ending December, 2011:
Sales: $6,714.0M
One year growth: 21.2%
Net income: $1,906.0M
Income growth: 3.3%

Officers:
Chairman: Richard N. Haythornthwaite
President, CEO, and Director: Ajaypal S. (Ajay) Banga
CFO, MasterCard Incorporated and MasterCard International Incorporated: Martina Hund-Mejean

Competitors:
American Express
Discover
Visa Inc

© 2012 Hoover's, Inc. All rights reserved.