MasterCard Has Big Plans to Shed #2 Card Status

Our little card is growing up.  After beating out rival Visa in going public, MasterCard’s shares have risen to more than 100. They soared 15% in November, according to Investor’s Business Daily, when the firm reported $1.42 a share in third quarter earnings, beating by 35 cents Wall Street estimates for its first full quarter as a public company.

"We have a very leverable business," Chris McWilton, chief financial officer, said of the firm’s $3 billion card business.

Still, Visa’s plan this year to follow MasterCard into the public arena could knock MasterCard down a notch or two.  Plus, American Express has been encroaching on MasterCard’s turf as well, not to mention Visa’s.

In the meantime, MasterCard plans to chase "profitable market share," McWilton said, by working with its many bank customers on new brand initiatives to prod card carriers to use MasterCard cards more often. MasterCard’s largest bank customers include JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, HSBC and Bank of America.