MasterCard Reports Strong Growth Across the Latin America and Caribbean Region in 2008

MIAMI, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- MasterCard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) announced its operating results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2008, posting continued growth in both credit and debit (offline and PIN-based) programs.

During the fourth quarter of 2008, MasterCard cardholders in the Latin America and Caribbean region used their MasterCard(R)-branded cards (excluding Cirrus(R) and Maestro(R)) for 635 million purchase and cash transactions, generating gross dollar volume (GDV) of US $44 billion, up 11.4% on a local currency basis, over the same period in 2007.   Additionally, purchase volume reached US $24 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, increasing 13.3% on a local currency basis, compared to the same period in 2007. GDV represents purchase volume plus cash volume and includes the impact of balance transfers and convenience checks.

The number of MasterCard-branded cards increased 16.6% as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2008, totaling 115 million cards, and MasterCard cardholders could use their cards at 28.5 million acceptance locations worldwide. MasterCard's global PIN-based debit program, which includes Maestro, and MasterCard's ATM-only brand Cirrus, also demonstrated positive results in the fourth quarter of 2008. In Latin America and the Caribbean region, the Maestro brand mark appeared on 126 million cards, up 11.5%  compared to the fourth quarter of 2007.

In 2008, MasterCard cardholders in the Latin America and Caribbean region used their MasterCard-branded cards (excluding Cirrus and Maestro) for 2.35 billion purchase and cash transactions, generating a gross dollar volume (GDV) of US $184 billion, up 16.1% on a local currency basis as compared to 2007. Additionally, purchase volume reached US $96 billion in 2008, increasing 18.6% on a local currency basis as compared to 2007.

"We are very pleased with the positive results achieved during the fourth quarter of 2008, and despite the challenging times facing the global economy, we feel fortunate and optimistic about the road ahead of us and are well positioned in the marketplace to face these challenges," said Richard Hartzell, president, Latin America and Caribbean Region. "The Latin America and Caribbean region will be a driving force in 2009 as the organization turns to economies outside the U.S. to generate significant volume and number of transactions. Electronic payments remain a vital driver for commerce for Latin American consumers and the strong results achieved in our region are further proof that the secular shift from cash and checks to electronic payments will continue."

Source Press Release