MasterCard 2009 Annual Report Download - page 4

2 MasterCard Annual Report 2009
Dear Fellow Shareholders:
We are very pleased with the results MasterCard delivered in 2009 and in the fi rst quarter
of 2010, particularly in light of the challenging economic environment. Even more importantly,
we are confi dent in the opportunities that lie ahead. We are in an excellent position to write
a new chapter in our company’s history as we drive innovation at the heart of commerce and
deliver value to societies in markets worldwide.
As economic trends and events reshape the payments landscape, prospects are favorable. Emerging markets offer tremendous
opportunities; technological advances are driving new and innovative product ideas; and, the secular trend toward electronic
payments continues to gather force. Worldwide, consumers, businesses, and even governments are demanding safer, faster,
easier, more controllable, and more rewarding payment alternatives.
In this era of change, we’re committed to leveraging our strengths, insights, and integrated solutions to drive innovation —
and to advance commerce for everyone, everywhere.
Solid Performance and a World of Opportunities
Throughout 2009, we focused our attention on reducing expenses, improving margins, and realigning our resources to
capitalize on the most promising geographic and market opportunities. These actions enabled us to achieve solid results
despite the challenging environment.
Around the world the payments industry offers tremendous growth potential. In the United States — our most established
market — opportunities continue to emerge, particularly in prepaid, e-commerce, and debit.
Markets in Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East
offer even greater potential, so we’ve positioned ourselves to make the most
of those growing opportunities. Already, more than half of our revenues are
generated outside the U.S. In the years ahead, we fully expect to continue
growing, not only in markets where electronic payments are in their infancy,
but in developed, underpenetrated markets in many parts of the world.
An Advanced Global Network; World-Renowned Brands
In enumerating our strengths, it’s fi tting to start with the MasterCard
Worldwide Network.
In 2009, our network processed over 22 billion transactions, a nearly
7 percent rise over 2008. This growth was achieved with a high degree
of accuracy, reliability, and security, as well as the fl exibility to enable our
customers to deliver custom-tailored products to cardholders worldwide.
Our payments network is unique in the industry in that it seamlessly
blends the speed and reliability of a distributed network with the real-time
availability and cardholder-level processing of a centralized network.
By dynamically adapting to the needs of each transaction, our network
helps customers control their operational and fraud-related costs. At the
same time, it enables growth through portfolio differentiation, as well as
emerging markets and payment technologies.
In addition, we continually invest in ways to strategically expand our
processing capabilities in the payments value chain. In 2008, we
introduced MasterCard Integrated Processing Solutions (IPS), a
MasterCard-engineered issuer processing platform designed to provide
global customers with a complete processing solution. IPS helps create
differentiated products and services and allows quick deployment of
Executive Letter
$5.1B
$1.5B
44.3%
$2.5T
22B
966M
659M
1.6B
Net Income
Operating
Margin
Gross Dollar
Volume
Processed
Transactions
MasterCard-
Branded Credit
and Debit Cards*
Maestro Cards*
Total Cards*
Net Revenue
Key 2009 Highlights
T=Trillion, B=Billion, M=Million
*As of December 31, 2009