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Auckland, September 24, 2010 – MasterCard Worldwide has announced the appointment of Albert Naffah as their Country Manager New Zealand.

Executive Vice President of MasterCard Australasia Eddie Grobler said the appointment, at such a senior level, underlined the strength of MasterCard’s ongoing commitment to the New Zealand market.

“Albert has an outstanding track record with over 14 years of financial services experience, extensive knowledge of the New Zealand market and an outstanding service record with MasterCard,” said Mr Grobler.

“But it’s Albert’s passion and his drive that will help deliver real and lasting growth to MasterCard and our customers in New Zealand.”

Albert Naffah said he was excited about the new challenge.

“New Zealand is a dynamic payments market, full of opportunity. Reinforcing our customer relationships will be a focus as well as delivering on MasterCard’s brand promise – to sit right at the Heart of Commerce,” Mr Naffah said.

“And with Rugby World Cup 2011 just around the corner, MasterCard will continue to build momentum in our capacity as Worldwide Partner.”

Mr Naffah has a wealth of management experience with MasterCard, including his most recent role as Vice President of Strategy, Business Development and Corporate Affairs. He holds a Bachelor of Law from the University of New England, Australia and a Bachelor of Commerce form Macquarie University Australia.

As country manager, Mr Naffah will hold overall responsibility for all aspects of MasterCard operations in New Zealand with the objective of promoting the MasterCard family of brands, focusing on corporate positioning and customer advocacy. He will be responsible for providing direction and insight to achieve business targets. His core responsibilities will include forging closer business relationships with customers, enhancing MasterCard brand awareness and promoting the usage and acceptance of MasterCard cards.

“With Albert’s appointment, we are confident that our New Zealand business will continue to grow from strength to strength,” said Mr Grobler.

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 approximately 21 billion transactions each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial-institution customers and merchants. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network and through its family of brands, including MasterCard^®, Maestro^® and Cirrus^®, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information go to www.mastercard.com.