Mastercard

History

Year	Detail
1960s	Mastercard had its origins in the late 1940s. In 1966, many organizations merged and established the Interbank Card Association (ICA), which later became MasterCard International. In 1968, ICA began what is now a global network by forming an association with Banco National in Mexico. Later that year, they formed an alliance in Europe with Eurocard. The first Japanese members also joined that year.
1970s	By the late 1970s, ICA had members from as far as Africa and Australia, among other places. ICA changed its name to MasterCard International.
1980s	In the 1980s, there was further expansion into Asia and Latin America. In 1987, MasterCard became the first payment card to be issued in the People’s Republic of China. In 1988, the first MasterCard card was issued in the Soviet Union. In 1985, MAstercard acquired the Cirrus ATM network and launched Maestro, the world’s first online point-of-sale debit network.
2000s	Mastercard merged with Europay International in 2002 and converted from a membership association to a private share corporation. From 2009 to 2012, MasterCard made a series of acquisitions designed to help sharpen focus on innovation. Among these are Orbiscom, which became MasterCard Labs in 2010 and serves as incubator for new ideas; DataCash; the prepaid program management business of Travelex (now called Access Prepaid), Trevica and Truaxis among other acquisitions.
2010s	In 2013, the company acquired Provus, a processor in Turkey. By the late 2010s, Mastercard had a global reach, extending to more than 210 countries and territories.