Surpassing Visa in market share -- now that would be priceless. Serving about 22,000 member financial institutions around the world, MasterCard is the #2 payment system in the US. The company does not issue credit or its namesake cards; rather, it markets the MasterCard (credit, debit, and prepaid cards) and Maestro (debit and prepaid cards, mainly in Europe) brands, provides a transaction authorization network, establishes guidelines for use, and collects fees from members. The company provides its services in more than 210 countries and territories, and its cards are accepted at more than 35 million locations around the globe. MasterCard also operates the Cirrus ATM network.