Mastercard (originally Interbank then Master Charge) was created by an alliance of several banks and regional bankcard associations in response to the BankAmericard issued by Bank of America, which later became Visa, still its biggest competitor. Mastercard has been publicly traded since 2006.
Throughout the world, its principal business is to process payments between the banks of merchants and the card-issuing banks or credit unions of the purchasers who use the Mastercard-brand debit, credit and prepaid cards to make purchases. Its headquarters are in Purchase, New York. It offers a range of payment transaction processing and other related-payment services (such as travel-related payments and bookings). (stylized as MasterCard from 1979 to 2016, mastercard from 2016 to 2019) is the second-largest payment-processing corporation worldwide.
