[source: MasterCard International Online Press Release]
MasterCard International® Reports Double Digit Growth in 2005 as Gross Dollar Volume Increases 11.9% Worldwide
Purchase, NY, February 02, 2006 - 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.
