Due to overseas volume spikes, MasterCard has reported strong revenues and profits Tuesday.  Much of the provided information reflects and increased acceptance of credit cards around the world.

MasterCard reported income of $518 million, which amounts to $3.94 per share.  The figure beat the Wall Street estimates of $3.54, on revenue of $1.4 billion that was up 4.7% from a year before.  Currently, an approximate 1.6 billion consumers around the world carries a MasterCard or Maestro-branded credit cards. 

Global MasterCard transaction volume increased 7.8% to $685 billion.  Much of the increase can be accredited to overseas accounts.  Volume within the United States actually fell 1.7% to $240 billion.  Conversely, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa volume grew 23.6% or $157 billion.  The most significant volume gains can be found in Latin America.  Transaction volume within Latin America grew 19.9% in dollar terms to $55 billion.  Transaction volume in Europe was up 6.2% to $207 billion.

Master Card President and Chief Executive Ajay Banga said, “Consumers and businesses around the world continue to recognize the benefits of electronic payments and MasterCard remains at the heart of this evolution."

A majority of the credit card industry saw a strong fall in share prices during May due to increasing government regulations that aimed to lower debit card fees and charges.  All the big players, American Express, Visa, and MasterCard felt the impact.  The regulations are still being debated today even though it was already signed into law.

MasterCard continues to compete and expand on all aspects.  "We are growing our global debit portfolio with new agreements that include Sovereign Bank, Chevy Chase and Delta Airlines in the U.S., Barclaycard in Germany and Qatar Islamic Bank. We are expanding our presence in new markets and channels, reflected in our memorandum of understanding with China Union Pay and an agreement with Singtel, one of the larger mobile operators in Asia. We also completed our acquisition of DataCash which enhances our e-Commerce capabilities," said Banga.