All eligibility criteria must be satisfied before an entity can be granted membership. The three types of membership are MasterCard, Maestro and Cirrus.

MasterCard:

Principal & Affiliate

• The entity must be a financial institution that
  • Accepts consumer or commercial deposits, or
  • Is a non-deposit taking entity that makes loans, or extends credit, or effects transactions with payment service cards
• The entity is authorized to engage in financial transactions under the laws or government regulations of the country where it is organized or where it principally does business.
• The entity must be regulated and supervised by one or more governmental authorities or agencies that review the financial transactions, financial conditions and practices of the entity.
• The entity must have the requiste right, power, and authority to function as a member of MasterCard and to engage in any MasterCard business activities (i.e. issuing and acquiring credit cards).

• The entity must be directly or indirectly controlled by one or more members and engages in MasterCard business activity on behalf of or through one or more of those members in operating MasterCard programs.

Maestro:

• The types of financial organizations that are eligible to apply for membership differ by region. The criteria are outlined as follows:
  
  

  • Type of Organization	Asia-Pacific	Canada	LAC	SAMEA	United States	Europe
    Financial Depository		X				X
    Regulated/Supervised Financial Depository	X		X	X	X	X
    Bank Holding Company				X	X	X
    Electronic Money Institution						X
    EFT Network			X		X
    NCUA					X
    Debit Service Provider			X

  
  Please note that the notation "x" signifies membership eligibility in the respective region.
  
  

  LAC, Latin America/Caribbean Region
  SAMEA, South Asia/Middle East/Africa Region

  
  
• Regional Licensors are permitted to establish criteria to suit local regulatory and market conditions.

Cirrus:

• The types of financial organizations that are eligible to apply for membership differ by region. The criteria are outlined as follows:
  
  

  • Type of Organization	Asia-Pacific	Canada	LAC	SAMEA	United States	Europe
    Financial Depository	X	X	X	X	X	X
    Bank Holding Company	X	X	X	X	X	X
    EFT Network		X			X
    Credit Card Processor		X				X
    Regional Financial Institution	X		X	X		X
    Electronic Money Institution						X
    Regional Payment System Subsidiary	X		X	X
    Other (at discretion of Network)	X	X	X	X	X	X

  
  Please note that the notation "x" signifies membership eligibility in the respective region.
  
  

  LAC, Latin America/Caribbean Region
  SAMEA, South Asia/Middle East/Africa Region

  
  
• The Cirrus Worldwide Operating Network can grant membership to non-depositor or non-banking holding organizations if their participation is deemed necessary for expansion of the network.