MasterCard International Restructures Board of Directors.

PURCHASE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 10, 1999--MasterCard International today announced that the Executive Committee of its Board of Directors has approved a restructuring of the Global Board of Directors, MasterCard's key governing authority. The board will be reduced from 31 to 17 voting members.

Robert W. Selander, president and chief executive officer of MasterCard, said that the board changes are part of a wider effort within MasterCard to increase the association's flexibility, and allow it to respond quickly to the needs of its members in today's rapidly changing economic environment.

"The consumer financial services industry is undergoing major change and consolidation," he said. "The change in the structure of our board, together with the recent realignment of our internal resources, is a strong demonstration of MasterCard's leadership, flexibility, and intense focus on serving our most important customers."

MasterCard also announced that Robert B. Willumstad, head of Global Consumer Lending for Citigroup Inc., and Hiroshi Arai, president and chairman of Orient Corporation of Japan, are the two new nominees to the Global Board of Directors.

They will join senior executives of global industry leaders like The Chase Manhattan Bank, MBNA America Bank, N.A., Household International, Mellon Bank N.A., HSBC Holdings plc, Bank of Montreal, NatWest Group, and Caisse Nationale de Credit Agricole, who already sit on the MasterCard board.

Donald L. Boudreau, vice chairman of The Chase Manhattan Bank, will continue as chairman of the board of MasterCard, for the second year of a two-year term.

The slate of nominees to MasterCard's Global Board of Directors, in addition to Mr. Selander and Mr. Boudreau, includes:

William F. Aldinger Household International

Hiroshi Arai Orient Corporation

Patrick J. Boylan NatWest Group

William R.P. Dalton HSBC Holdings plc

Baldomero Falcones Jaquotot Bank Central Hispano Americano, S.A.

Ernesto E. Grether Argencard S.A.

Dr. Peter Hoch Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank AG

Jean-Pierre Ledru Caisse Nationale de Credit Agricole

Martin G. McGuinn Mellon Bank N.A.

John Francis Mulcahy Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Lance L. Weaver MBNA America Bank, N.A.

A.R. "Drew" White Bank of Montreal

Robert B. Willumstad Citigroup Inc.

Mark H. Wright USAA Federal Savings Bank

Ronald N. Zebeck Metris Companies Inc.

In addition to these voting members, Dr. Kurt Richolt, chairman, Europay International and Norman J. Tice, chairman emeritus, MasterCard International, have been nominated as non-voting members of the board.

MasterCard International has the most comprehensive portfolio of payment brands in the world. With 23,000 member financial institutions, serving consumers in 220 countries and territories, MasterCard is the industry leader in quality and innovation. Nearly 700 million MasterCard(R), Maestro(R), Cirrus(R) and Mondex(TM) cards are accepted at more than 16.2 million locations worldwide. In 1998, gross dollar volume exceeded US$650 billion. MasterCard can be reached through its World Wide Web site at http://www.mastercard.com.