MasterCard International Reports Double Digit Growth in 2005 as Gross Dollar Volume Increases 11.9% Worldwide

MasterCard International today announced operating results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2005, with double-digit growth in both gross dollar volume (GDV) and purchase volume. In 2005, cardholders worldwide used 749.3 million MasterCard-branded cards for more than 19.1 billion transactions, generating gross dollar volume (GDV) of $1.7 trillion, an increase of 11.9 percent over 2004.

“Innovations like our PayPass contactless payments technology, combined with the global strength of our brand and ability to provide our customers with leading-edge processing services and industry expertise continue to resonate around the world,” said MasterCard Chief Operating Officer Alan Heuer.

MasterCard’s strong performance in 2005 was fueled by growth in both credit and debit programs. GDV for worldwide credit and charge programs grew 9.2 percent to more than $1.3 trillion, while GDV for offline debit programs rose 23.6 percent to $347.3 billion.

Performance highlights for 2005 include:

• Cardholders across the globe used MasterCard-branded cards (excluding Maestro® and Cirrus®) for more than 19.1 billion transactions, generating GDV of $1.7 trillion, an increase of 11.9 percent over 2004. GDV includes both purchase and cash volume.
• At year-end, MasterCard’s almost 25,000 customer financial institutions around the world had issued 749.3 million MasterCard-branded cards, a 10.5 percent increase over 2004.
• The value of purchases on MasterCard-branded cards showed strong growth worldwide, rising 13.7 percent to nearly $1.2 trillion.