MasterCard posts strong growth in 2010

MANILA, Philippines -  MasterCard Inc. recently announced fourth quarter and full-year results for the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region.

For the quarter ending Dec. 31 2010, the region witnessed strong growth in gross dollar volume (19.1 percent), purchase volume (19.5 percent), purchase transactions (16.2 percent), cash transactions (21.8 percent) and cards issued (9.7 percent), versus the same period in 2009.

As of Dec. 31, 2010, 294 million MasterCard cards (excluding Maestro and Cirrus) had been issued by MasterCard customers in the region. Cardholders in the region made 1,323 million purchase transactions in the fourth quarter of 2010 and cardholders could use their MasterCard cards at 31.7 million acceptance locations worldwide.

“We had a strong fourth quarter and a successful year in 2010. We continued to generate strong momentum across our core credit and debit products across markets in the region,” said Vicky Bindra, president, Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa, MasterCard Worldwide. “As MasterCard moves into a new decade, I am excited about the tremendous opportunities ahead. Innovation and changes in our business environments will happen at increasing speed across our region. I believe our success will depend on staying ahead of changes in payment; whether through plastic, phone, internet or otherwise.”

For the quarter ending Dec. 31 2010, the Maestro brand mark appeared on 218 million cards in the Asia/Pacific, MiddleEast and Africa region. Consumers can now make debit point of sale purchases with their Maestro cards at 1.8 million merchant locations in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa region.

For the year ended Dec. 31, 2010, the region saw growth in gross dollar volume (18.8 percent), purchase volume (17.1 percent), purchase transactions (16.4 percent) and cash transactions (28 percent) versus 2009. In addition to the performance highlights, MasterCard in the region also reported a number of significant achievements for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2010.