Mastercard vs Apple

About

Mastercard Incorporated is a Purchase, New York-based global payment technology network — publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MA) as an S&P 500 Financials component with a market capitalization exceeding $500 billion — operating a four-party payment network connecting approximately 3.4 billion cardholders, 90+ million merchant acceptance locations, and 25,000+ financial institution issuers across 210+ countries and territories through approximately 34,000 employees. In Q1 2025, Mastercard reported revenue of $7.3 billion (+14% year-over-year) and diluted EPS of $3.73 (+13%), continuing a trajectory from full-year 2024 revenue of $28.2 billion. Mastercard's network processes over $9 trillion in gross dollar volume annually across credit, debit, and prepaid products. In September 2024, Mastercard acquired Recorded Future for $2.65 billion — the world's largest threat intelligence company — expanding Mastercard's cybersecurity services beyond payment fraud into enterprise security intelligence. Mastercard reorganized its business in April 2024 into three segments: Core Payments, Commercial & New Payment Flows, and Services (the fastest-growing segment, now exceeding 35% of total revenue).