There are nearly 2 billion MasterCards out in the world and card holders are spending. MasterCard reported net income of $879 million up 14% from the same period last year. Earnings per share were $7.27, beating the consensus estimate of $6.94 a share. Sales were up 16% to $2.2 billion as purchase and dollar volume rose 14% and 15% respectively. MasterCard holders completed 10 billion card transactions and spent more than $1 trillion this quarter. Credit card users spent $590 billion in 6.3 billion transactions. Debit card users spend $454 billion in 5.4 billion transactions. The transaction growth is due in part to the companies efforts to make it even easier to use your MasterCard. CEO Ajay Banga explains, “In the quarter, we partnered with technology companies and merchants to develop standards and solutions that ensure safer and more secure transactions and we launched services like Simplify Commerce, our developer-friendly solution which allows merchants to begin accepting mobile and e-Commerce payments, regardless of brand, in a matter of minutes. The quarter was characterised by accelerating volumes across the globe, a notable pickup in U.S. credit metrics and significant acceleration in processed transaction growth. American Express may famously tell their customers “Don’t Leave Home Without It”…quite clearly in Mastercard’s case, none of them do!