MasterCard 2004 Annual Report Download - page 8

That฀said,฀we฀have฀hardly฀reached฀the฀potential฀of฀the฀payments฀environment.฀Despite฀the฀burgeoning฀role฀cards฀play,฀
the฀overwhelming฀majority฀of฀payments฀around฀the฀world฀are฀still฀made฀with฀cash฀and฀checks.
MasterCard฀is฀helping฀customers฀capture฀these฀transactions,฀from฀quick-pay฀solutions฀in฀high-volume,฀small-purchase฀
environments,฀to฀systems฀that฀revolutionize฀the฀corporate฀procure-to-pay฀process.฀These฀and฀other฀initiatives฀coincide฀with฀
a฀cultural฀shift฀toward฀electronic฀payment฀mechanisms฀that฀are฀more฀effi฀cient,฀less฀costly,฀and฀more฀secure฀than฀paper.
Given฀the฀size฀of฀this฀opportunity฀—฀and฀the฀power฀of฀the฀MasterCard฀brand฀—฀we฀believe฀that฀a฀bright฀era฀lies฀ahead฀for฀
our฀customers฀and฀ourselves.฀Of฀course,฀as฀in฀any฀evolving฀industry,฀there฀are฀pressures,฀including฀competition฀from฀new฀and฀
established฀players,฀as฀well฀as฀legal฀challenges฀and฀attention฀from฀regulatory฀entities,฀which฀are฀drawn฀by฀the฀very฀success฀
we฀enjoy.฀Our฀proven฀strategy฀and฀unique฀value฀proposition฀will฀help฀us฀to฀deal฀effectively฀with฀these฀challenges฀and฀take฀us฀
much฀further฀in฀the฀years฀ahead.
Value฀Is฀the฀Key
In฀2004,฀we฀reaffi฀rmed฀our฀strategy฀of฀focusing฀on฀the฀needs฀of฀our฀customers฀and฀fi฀nding฀ways฀to฀make฀MasterCard฀more฀
integral฀to฀their฀success฀every฀day.฀The฀key฀is฀to฀leverage฀our฀resources฀and฀wealth฀of฀intellectual฀capital฀—฀including฀product,฀
marketing,฀consulting,฀technology,฀and฀processing฀expertise฀—฀to฀deliver฀increased฀value฀to฀our฀customers.฀This฀is฀what฀
differentiates฀MasterCard,฀and฀differentiation฀is฀critical฀to฀seizing฀opportunity.฀By฀understanding฀where฀our฀customers฀want฀
to฀go,฀and฀by฀working฀as฀business฀partners฀to฀get฀them฀there,฀our฀people฀deliver฀exceptional฀results.
This฀past฀year,฀MasterCard฀Advisors
™
,฀ our฀global฀professional฀services฀group,฀provided฀customers฀with฀invaluable฀advice฀
™
™
and฀assistance฀in฀growing฀their฀payments฀businesses.฀Founded฀in฀2001,฀Advisors฀is฀now฀a฀key฀differentiator฀for฀MasterCard฀
International฀and฀an฀important฀contributor฀to฀our฀value-added฀approach.฀No฀other฀consultancy฀or฀card฀company฀we฀know฀
of฀can฀match฀Advisors’฀combination฀of฀hands-on฀payments฀expertise฀and฀consulting฀skill฀—฀delivered฀across฀the฀full฀range฀of฀
payments฀activities.฀In฀2004,฀Advisors฀introduced฀new฀products,฀including฀SpendingPulse
™
,฀a฀data฀service฀that฀paints฀a฀timely,฀
™™
accurate฀picture฀of฀retail฀spending฀in฀the฀United฀States,฀well฀ahead฀of฀government฀reports.
Value฀also฀continued฀to฀fl฀ow฀from฀one฀of฀our฀most฀powerful฀assets฀—฀our฀global฀brand฀—฀which฀boosted฀customer฀
efforts฀to฀attract,฀retain,฀and฀satisfy฀cardholders฀worldwide.฀At฀a฀time฀when฀consumers฀rely฀less฀on฀cash,฀and฀prefer฀global฀
names฀they฀know฀and฀trust,฀a฀brand฀that฀travels฀everywhere฀is฀a฀huge฀competitive฀advantage.฀The฀year฀gave฀us฀ample฀
opportunity฀to฀leverage฀the฀strength฀of฀
Priceless
™
Priceless
Priceless
,฀ our฀fl฀exible฀consumer฀advertising฀and฀marketing฀platform฀with฀messaging฀
™
™
that฀resonates฀around฀the฀world.฀We฀also฀continued฀to฀strengthen฀and฀leverage฀important,฀high-profi฀le฀sponsorships฀and฀
alliances฀that฀fortify฀our฀brand,฀as฀well฀as฀the฀brands฀of฀our฀customers฀and฀merchants.
In฀addition,฀customers฀continued฀to฀benefi฀t฀from฀our฀state-of-the-art฀technology฀platform.฀Value฀from฀this฀investment฀comes฀
not฀only฀in฀the฀form฀of฀security฀and฀reliability,฀but฀also฀in฀our฀ability฀to฀customize฀processing฀to฀meet฀specifi฀c฀client฀needs฀
—฀for฀example,฀worldwide฀daily฀settlement฀in฀select฀local฀currencies.
While฀we฀worked฀to฀bring฀more฀value฀to฀our฀customers,฀we฀sought฀to฀strengthen฀relationships฀with฀merchants,฀listening฀
to฀their฀perspective,฀and฀keeping฀them฀abreast฀of฀emerging฀technologies฀and฀payment฀programs.฀In฀2004,฀we฀expanded฀
mastercardmerchant.com,฀a฀website฀built฀specifi฀cally฀for฀merchants.฀We฀also฀increased฀co-marketing฀opportunities฀by฀
developing฀U.S.฀print฀ads฀based฀on฀our฀
Priceless
฀campaign฀and฀featuring฀prominent฀retailers.฀In฀addition,฀we฀joined฀with฀
merchants฀on฀an฀individual฀basis,฀introducing฀acceptance฀programs฀that฀offer฀signifi฀cant฀mutual฀benefi฀ts.฀An฀example฀is฀an฀
agreement฀that฀will฀bring฀MasterCard฀
PayPass
™
PayPassPayPass
฀to฀McDonald’s
®
,฀simplifying฀and฀enhancing฀the฀consumer฀experience฀while฀
®
®
improving฀effi฀ciency฀and฀decreasing฀average฀transaction฀time฀at฀the฀point฀of฀purchase.
MasterCard฀Incorporated฀Annual฀Report฀2004
4