Cirrus Issuers Now Able to Offer Surcharge-Free ATM Access Across the United States.

Business Editors

PURCHASE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 29, 2003

Cirrus, the First U.S. National ATM Network to Allow Waiver of ATM

Fees; Rule Change is the Latest in a Series of Debit Program

Enhancements

MasterCard International today announced a membership rule modification to facilitate formation of the first national surcharge-free ATM alliance ("SFA") among participating financial institutions. Effective immediately, Cirrus(R) card issuers and Cirrus ATM acquirer financial institutions will be permitted to form bilateral or multilateral agreements allowing cash withdrawals through the Cirrus/MasterCard ATM network in the United States, without the imposition of an access fee on the cardholder transaction.

The rule change directly responds to member input requesting surcharge-free functionality as a competitive enhancement to the Cirrus U.S. program. MasterCard research indicates that SFAs are attractive to financial institutions as a means to expand demand deposit account ("DDA") accessibility for ATM/Debit cardholders beyond the localized boundaries of a singular proprietary ATM network.

"The new U.S. region rules for Cirrus-branded transactions further elevates the appeal and value-proposition underlying Cirrus U.S. membership," said Richard G. Lyons, Jr., senior vice president, Deposit Access Group, North America, MasterCard International. "With over 350,000 ATM locations in the Cirrus/MasterCard network in the U.S., an SFA has the potential to exponentially increase a member institution's network of ATM terminals."

Cirrus members are not compelled to participate in an SFA, or make any operational changes. SFA members may waive ATM access fees in full for transactions initiated with Cirrus cards issued by alliance participants.

Furthermore, MasterCard recently implemented a series of additional debit program enhancements to strengthen debit alliances for issuers, acquirers, merchants, and/or processors, while promoting wider issuance and acceptance of MasterCard debit in North America. These include:

Maestro Stand-In Processing

Stand-in processing for PIN-based POS transactions goes into effect October 1, 2003. The rule change is designed to increase overall Maestro approval rates by reducing declines due to non-response from issuer host systems.

Stand-in processing ensures uniformly higher levels of Maestro customer and merchant satisfaction at the point of sale. Merchants benefit by being able to serve their customers quickly and effectively, while cardholders experience fewer declines. The rule change encourages increased transaction volume and improves the value-advantage of the Maestro brand.

MasterCard Direct-Connect

Maestro acquirers can now designate non-member entities such as merchants to connect directly to the MasterCard Debit Switch (MDS). Issuers with high transaction volumes will also have an equivalent opportunity to choose the direct-connect option.

The direct-connect rule change improves the speed, efficiency, and quality of transaction processing for acquirers, merchants, and issuers that handle high volumes of Maestro transactions -- translating to faster, more reliable processing at the point of sale for Maestro cardholders.

Maestro and Cirrus Transaction Routing

Issuers and acquirers now have the option of specifying Maestro and Cirrus as the network of choice for transaction routing, opening the door to wider access to MasterCard's advanced debit transaction processing technology. Issuers may choose to specify the routing of their domestic card transactions to the Maestro/Cirrus networks when multiple service marks are common to both the card and the terminal. Acquirers who default route to Cirrus are no longer required to route transactions to a competing network whose marks are common to card and terminal.

These rule changes give both issuers and acquirers greater flexibility in determining transaction routing. They also improve the competitive position of Maestro and Cirrus in the U.S. region, where the rules of competing networks allow issuers to specify transaction routing.

"Cumulatively, the recent series of MasterCard rule and infrastructure changes enhance the functionality, performance, and distribution of MasterCard, Maestro, and Cirrus deposit access programs at both the point of sale and ATM," added Lyons. "We have listened to our members and delivered programs to maximize our core debit capabilities, improve the cardholder's experience, and support our members' efforts to meet expanding opportunities in North America."

About MasterCard International

MasterCard International has a comprehensive portfolio of well-known, widely accepted payment brands, including MasterCard, Cirrus and Maestro. With approximately 25,000 MasterCard, Cirrus and Maestro members worldwide, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses, both large and small, in 210 countries and territories. MasterCard is a leader in quality and innovation, offering a wide range of payment solutions in the virtual and traditional worlds. The MasterCard award-winning Priceless(R) advertising campaign is now seen in 96 countries and in 45 languages, giving the MasterCard brand a truly global reach and scope. For the year ended December 31, 2002, gross dollar volume exceeded US$1.14 trillion. MasterCard can be reached through its website at www.mastercardinternational.com.