MasterCard 2011 Annual Report Download - page 56

Business Environment
We process transactions from more than 210 countries and territories and in more than 150 currencies. Net
revenue generated in the United States was 39.6%, 41.6% and 42.4% of total net revenue in 2011, 2010 and
2009, respectively. No individual country, other than the United States, generated more than 10% of total
revenues in any period, but differences in market growth, economic health, and foreign exchange fluctuations in
certain countries have increased the proportion of revenues generated outside the United States over time. While
the global nature of our business helps protect our operating results from adverse economic conditions in a single
or a few countries, the significant concentration of our revenues generated in the United States makes our
business particularly susceptible to adverse economic conditions in the United States.
The competitive and evolving nature of the global payments industry provides both challenges to and
opportunities for the continued growth of our business. Unprecedented events which began during 2008 impacted
the financial markets around the world, including continued distress in the credit environment, continued equity
market volatility and additional government intervention. The economies of the United States and numerous
countries around the world were significantly impacted by this economic turmoil. More recently, countries have
experienced credit ratings actions by ratings agencies, including several in Europe as well as the United States. In
addition, some existing customers have been placed in receivership or administration or have a significant
amount of their stock owned by their governments. Many financial institutions are facing increased regulatory
and governmental influence, including potential further changes in laws and regulations. Many of our financial
institution customers, merchants that accept our brands and cardholders who use our brands have been directly
and adversely impacted.
MasterCard’s financial results may be negatively impacted by actions taken by individual financial
institutions or by governmental or regulatory bodies. The condition of the economic environments may
accelerate the timing of or increase the impact of risks to our financial performance. As a result, our revenue may
be negatively impacted, or the Company may be impacted in several ways. For a full discussion see “Risk
Factors—Business Risks—Unprecedented global economic events in financial markets around the world have
directly and adversely affected, and may continue to affect, many of our customers, merchants that accept our
brands and cardholders who use our brands, which could result in a material and adverse impact on our
prospects, growth, profitability, revenue and overall business” in Part I, Item 1A of this Report.
In addition, our business and our customers’ businesses are subject to regulation in many countries.
Regulatory bodies may seek to impose rules and price controls on certain aspects of our business and the
payments industry. See Note 20 (Legal and Regulatory Proceedings) to the consolidated financial statements
included in Part II, Item 8 and Part I, Item 1A (Risk Factors) of this Report for further discussion.
MasterCard continues to monitor the extent and pace of economic recovery around the world to identify
opportunities for the continued growth of our business and to evaluate the evolution of the global payments
industry. For example, in our Asia Pacific and Latin American regions, we have now experienced several
quarters of significant increases in dollar volume of activity on cards carrying our brands in those regions while
in the United States and Europe we have recently experienced significant growth in dollar volume despite mixed
economic indicators. Notwithstanding recent encouraging trends, the extent and pace of economic recovery in
various regions remains uncertain and the overall business environment may present challenges for MasterCard
to grow its business.
52