MasterCard 2015 Annual Report Download - page 9

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3
In this Report on Form 10-K (“Report”), references to the “Company,” “MasterCard,” “we,” “us” or “our” refer to the MasterCard
brand generally, and to the business conducted by MasterCard Incorporated and its consolidated subsidiaries, including our
operating subsidiary, MasterCard International Incorporated.
Forward-Looking Statements
This Report contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts may be forward-looking statements. When used in this
Report, the words “believe”, “expect”, “could”, “may”, “would”, “will”, “trend” and similar words are intended to identify forward-
looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to the
Company’s future prospects, developments and business strategies.
Many factors and uncertainties relating to our operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and
many of which are outside of our control, influence whether any forward-looking statements can or will be achieved. Any one
of those factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in writing in any forward-
looking statements made by MasterCard or on its behalf, including, but not limited to, the following factors:
• payments system-related legal and regulatory challenges (including interchange fees, surcharging and the
extension of current regulatory activity to additional jurisdictions or products);
• the impact of preferential or protective government actions;
• regulation of privacy, data protection and security;
• regulation to which we are subject based on our participation in the payments industry;
• the impact of competition in the global payments industry (including disintermediation and pricing pressure);
• the challenges relating to rapid technological developments and changes;
• the impact of information security failures, breaches or service disruptions on our business;
• issues related to our relationships with our customers (including loss of substantial business from significant
customers, competitor relationships with our customers and banking industry consolidation);
• the impact of our relationships with stakeholders, including issuers and acquirers, merchants and governments;
• exposure to loss or illiquidity due to settlement guarantees and other significant third-party obligations;
• the impact of global economic and political events and conditions, including global financial market activity,
declines in cross-border activity; negative trends in consumer spending and the effect of adverse currency
fluctuation;
• reputational impact, including impact related to brand perception, account data breaches and fraudulent
activity;
• issues related to acquisition integration, strategic investments and entry into new businesses;
• potential or incurred liability and limitations on business resulting from litigation; and
• issues related to our Class A common stock and corporate governance structure.
Please see a complete discussion of these risk factors in Part I, Item 1A - Risk Factors. We caution you that the important factors
referenced above may not contain all of the factors that are important to you. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of
the date of this Report or as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update our forward-looking statements.
PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
MasterCard is a technology company in the global payments industry that connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants,
governments and businesses worldwide, enabling them to use electronic forms of payment instead of cash and checks. As the
operator of what we believe is the world’s fastest payments network, we facilitate the processing of payment transactions,