Merchant acceptance of MasterCard® online debit programs also grew substantially. As of March 31, 2005, consumers can make online debit point of sale purchases with their MasterCard or Maestro branded cards at nearly 8.8 million merchant locations globally. There were more than one million MasterCard/Cirrus ATMs around the world at the end of the first quarter of 2005.

"As the only truly global online debit network, MasterCard is uniquely positioned to deliver the best value to consumers, merchants and financial institutions in markets throughout the world," said Richard G. Lyons Jr., senior vice president, MasterCard International. "The continued progress we've seen over the past quarter, especially in the United States, and South Asia, Middle East and Africa, is a clear sign of our continued momentum in the marketplace, as well as a shifting of consumer preference away from cash and checks to debit cards."

Strong Regional Results:

• Online debit purchase transactions in the United States grew 459 percent for the first quarter of 2005, compared to the first quarter in 2004. Nearly 383,000 ATMs in the MasterCard® ATM Network and 1.5 million merchant locations in the United States accepted MasterCard online debit (and Maestro) at the end of this period.
• MasterCard experienced exceptional card growth in the South Asia, Middle East and Africa regions, with more than a 42 percent increase to 32.1 million cards for the first quarter, compared to the same period in 2004. Maestro purchase transactions over the same time totaled 22 million and gross dollar volume (GDV) for online debit activity in the region for the first quarter 2005 was almost $20 billion, with purchase volume at $1.6 billion.
• Maestro card numbers increased 17 percent throughout Latin America, to almost 80 million cards in the first quarter of 2005, compared to the first quarter of 2004. Maestro purchase transactions for the first quarter reached nearly 160 million and GDV for online debit activity in the region was nearly $19.4 billion, with purchase volume at more than $3.3 billion.
• Maestro cards in circulation in Europe grew to more than 260 million, a 7.5 percent increase over the same period in 2004. Maestro purchase transactions in Europe for this period were close to 1.4 billion and online debit GDV was more than $261 billion, with purchase volume at $96.9 billion.
• In the Asia/Pacific region, the number of Maestro cards issued rose to 148.7 million as of March 31, 2005. Maestro purchase transactions for the first quarter totaled 145 million and GDV for online debit activity in the region was nearly $29 billion, with purchase volume at $7.6 billion.