Card News Updates: Mastercard Inc (MA)’s Funder, Visa Inc (V) & NSA, American Express Company (AXP)’s New Options

Editor’s Note: Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA), Visa Inc (NYSE:V), American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

MasterCard Joins Better Than Cash Alliance (Market Watch)
Today, Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) announced, with a $1.5 million grant, that it is joining the Better Than Cash Alliance. MasterCard’s commitment comes at the one-year anniversary mark for the Better Than Cash Alliance, which works with governments, the development community and the private sector to digitize their cash payments to people in emerging economies. The initiative for electronic payments was founded last year by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Citi, Ford Foundation, Omidyar Network, USAID, U.N. Capital Development Fund and Visa Inc (NYSE:V). Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) joins the Alliance as the first funder since the original commitments announced at launch.

Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA)

NSA ‘Follow the Money’ branch spied on Visa customers, SWIFT transactions – report (RT)
The NSA has been widely monitoring international banking and credit card transactions, a new report says referencing Edward Snowden’s leak. The agency targeted Visa Inc (NYSE:V) customers and global financial service SWIFT and created its own money flows database. Referring to information leaked by Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee and NSA contractor, German Der Spiegel reports that the surveillance was carried out by a branch called “Follow the Money” (FTM).

January 2016 Options Now Available For American Express (AXP) (Forbes)
Investors in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) saw new options begin trading today, for the January 2016 expiration. One of the key inputs that goes into the price an option buyer is willing to pay, is the time value, so with 851 days until expiration the newly trading contracts represent a possible opportunity for sellers of puts or calls to achieve a higher premium than would be available for the contracts with a closer expiration. At Stock Options Channel, our YieldBoost formula has looked up and down the American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) options chain for the new January 2016 contracts and identified one put and one call contract of particular interest.

Mastercard Inc : MasterCard and EFL Partner to Drive Small Business Growth in Developing Economies_ (4-Traders)
Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) and the Entrepreneurial Finance Lab (EFL) today announced a global partnership to promote small business (SMB) growth in developing countries. The partnership, signed during a ceremony at the SIBOS Conference in Dubai, provides international issuers in developing markets with new tools to help improve credit underwriting for unbanked small businesses. The cost-effective approach to screening and risk evaluation increases SMBs’ access to capital, unlocking entrepreneurial potential and driving economic growth around the globe

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