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Sydney, 13 December 2007 - With a new government, high employment and a strong economy, the latest survey by MasterCard Worldwide has revealed Australians will bring in the New Year feeling more positive about the future than ever before, with consumer confidence reaching a new high in the first half of 2008.

According to the latest MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence, Australians’ optimism has increased by 51 per cent over the past 12 months, which may be attributed to Australians feeling the effects of new leadership, a tight job market and strong Australian dollar.

“Australians are extremely optimistic about the future and are looking forward to the next six months. Fall-out from the US sub prime situation have not dampened the positive Aussie spirit,” said Leigh Clapham, executive vice president, Australasia, MasterCard Worldwide.

Australians have in fact become much more optimistic about their regular income compared to one year ago, with a 17 per cent increase from a score of 71.7 to 83.7, and significantly more positive about their quality of life – more than twice as happy in fact, scoring 60.8 compared to 25.5 just 12 months ago.

“Overall, Australians are more optimistic about their immediate future, particularly when it comes to their quality of life. Last year, Australians were quite pessimistic about their quality of life and were reassessing the time they spent with family and friends and their work life balance. Australians are now putting greater importance on the non-financial and non-work related factors when examining their happiness – and are feeling better for it,” said Clapham.

“Not only feeling good about their personal situation, Australians have a renewed confidence in the economy and stock market, which indicates that Australia is enjoying a strong economy,” Clapham added.

Australian consumers are more optimistic about all variables researched in the Index, with consumer sentiment towards employment up 54 per cent, increasing from 36.1 to 55.5, the economy up 71 per cent (36.0 to 61.4) and stock market up 10 per cent (57.1 to 62.8).

The MasterCard Worldwide Index is the region’s most comprehensive and longest running consumer confidence survey. The scores, ranging between 0 and 100, are based on responses on five variables: employment, economy, regular income, stock market and quality of life. Scores above 50 indicating extent of optimism, scores below 50 indicating the extent of pessimism, and 50 being neutral.

Ten out of the 13 Asia/Pacific markets have registered an increase in consumer confidence levels. Vietnam (94.3) continues to top the region’s markets as the most buoyant in consumer sentiment for the six month period ahead, followed by Hong Kong (85.9), China (85.5) and Singapore (83.6). Korea shows the largest increases in optimism, with its index score increasing 15.6 points to 64.1.

“This latest consumer confidence reading of the region is broadly consistent with the short term outlook of economic conditions of the key regional markets. It is not surprising to see the China and Vietnam continue to be strongly optimistic, whereas at the opposite end of the spectrum is Taiwan,” said Dr. Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, economic advisor, Asia/Pacific, MasterCard Worldwide.

He continued, “Weak domestic consumption in Japan is also reflected in its confidence index slipping back into pessimistic territory. For 2008, the critical uncertainty is therefore China, which has become an increasingly important market for exports from the rest of Asia. Can its economic expansion stay robust in spite of weakening global demand? Depending on the performance of the China market, outlook for the second half of 2008 might be very different.”

The latest MasterCard Worldwide Index survey was conducted from 8 to 29 October 2007 for all markets except Indonesia (which was conducted from 18 October to 5 November 2007 because of Ramadan). It involved 5,411 consumers across 13 key Asia/Pacific markets. In its fourteenth year, the six-monthly survey analyzes prevailing consumer perceptions of economic conditions for the six-month period ahead.

Other highlights of the latest MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence survey are:

• China (85.5), Hong Kong (85.9) and Singapore (83.6) all registered high levels of consumer confidence. Consumers in China are showing record-high levels of optimism about employment. Consumers in China also continue to be bullish about the stock market, while consumers in Hong Kong and Singapore, while still positive, are reflecting a slight dip in sentiment.
• Japan (48.6), which saw a massive recovery in consumer confidence levels in 2006 to its historical high and the first half of this year, has slipped back somewhat and is now just holding at around neutral levels. Its Index score dropped 18.2 points, from a clearly optimistic 66.8 in the previous survey to 48.6 for the six months ahead. Whether consumers have turned pessimistic or are adopting a wait-and-see attitude, the more than 20-point loss of confidence, manifested particularly in the regular income, economy and quality of life indicators, is worth monitoring.
• Taiwan (29.7) has the weakest consumer sentiment of all 13 markets. Outlook is pessimistic on most of the five economic factors, with views on employment and quality of life being the most pessimistic among consumers in the Asia/Pacific region.

MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes over 16 billion transactions each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial institution customers and merchants. Through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro® and Cirrus®, MasterCard Worldwide serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information go to www.mastercard.com.

Statements in this press release which are not historical facts, including any statements about MasterCard's plans, strategies, beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking and subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Accordingly, except for the company's ongoing obligations under the U.S. federal securities laws, the company does not intend to update or otherwise revise the forward-looking information to reflect actual results of operations, changes in financial condition, changes in estimates, expectations or assumptions, changes in general economic or industry conditions or other circumstances arising and/or existing since the preparation of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of any unanticipated events. Actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking statements for a number of reasons, including those set forth in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 and Current Reports on Form 8-K that it has filed with the SEC during 2007, as well as reasons including difficulties, delays or the inability of the company to achieve its strategic initiatives. Factors other than those listed above could also cause the company's results to differ materially from expected results.

Melissa Devine, 02 9818 0950, mdevine@ppr.com.au
Michael Pooley, 02 9818 9310, mpooley@ppr.com.au