MasterCard charges customers for its payment-related services, primarily based on the volumes they generate on MasterCard-branded cards. MasterCard’s total revenues are largely a function of the number of transactions processed, as well as the gross dollar volume of purchases. Gasoline is one of the most frequent items purchased on credit cards. With U.S. consumption at 9.2 million barrels per day during December 2010, the growing mix of customers opting to purchases gasoline on a credit card makes this item a key revenue source for card networks.

Published on January 20th, 2011 by Forbes