MasterCard records growth

MasterCard records growth

JAKARTA (JP): MasterCard International announced on Wednesday
that the number of people holding its Maestro/Cirrus debit card
had grown by 73 percent to 7.9 million in 1999, up from 4.6
million in 1998.

Country manager for MasterCard International in Indonesia
Bambang Gunawan said the high growth was driven particularly by
extended commitments to the card by some major local banks,
including Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Central Asia and Bank
International Indonesia.

"Consumers are attracted to Maestro/Cirrus because it offers
security protection not found in other debit card products," he
said.

The company also announced that Lippo Bank had chosen to stop
issuing Maestro/Cirrus cards, shifting to a signature-based
product for point-of-sale functionality.

The company earlier predicted transaction values using Maestro
debit cards to surge sevenfold in 1999 from US$1 billion in 1998.

Maestro/Cirrus debit cards can be used at over 479,000
automated teller machines and over four million point of sale
terminals worldwide. (cst)