MasterCard Worldwide and ElectraCard Services today announced that MasterCard has taken a 12.5% stake in Pune headquartered ElectraCard Services (ECS), a leading provider of software solutions for credit and payments management. The investment in ECS bolsters MasterCards overarching global processing strategy by further extending MasterCards product offerings and enhancing services across the full spectrum of the processing value chain not only in India but also in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

Founded in 2006, ECS provides third party processing services and software for credit, debit and prepaid cards and EFT switching solutions to banks across 25 countries. ECS electra suite provides depth and capabilities to process in real time a variety of payment transactions. In India, ECS is the largest third party processor for cards and the market leader in Internet payment gateway solutions.

As part of its broader processing strategy, MasterCard remains committed to raising the bar on innovation and providing solutions for the deployment of turnkey payment platforms. The companys fully integrated global payment platform enables its customer financial institutions to offer new, differentiated products to their cardholders; build new relationships; enhance customer loyalty; reach new segments; secure first-mover advantage and drive greater efficiencies. The investment in ECS is designed to further the strategic objectives of both organizations.

Ramesh Mengawade, CEO, ElectraCard Services, said, We are very pleased to have MasterCard join us as a strategic partner. Over the past five years, ECS has established a large customer base for our flexible and scalable electra platform, which we expect will be further adopted in the market as a result of this alliance. This partnership with MasterCard will not only accelerate our growth but will also yield superior processing services to our customers.

MasterCard is committed to bringing the greatest value to our customers, who are increasingly looking to enhance the depth of their product offering and differentiate themselves in the marketplace. We are impressed with ECS capabilities and look forward to further enabling our mutual customers with customized and differentiated options. This is certainly one of the key milestones in the rollout of MasterCards global processing strategy, said T.V. Seshadri, General Manager, South Asia, MasterCard Worldwide.

Notes to Editor

About MasterCard Worldwide

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 22 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

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About ElectraCard Services

ElectraCard Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Opus Software Solutions, provides business critical applications and third party processing services for credit and payments management industry across the world. ECS is a PCI DSS certified Third Party Processor (TPP) for MasterCard® and VISA® across the issuing and acquiring side. Its deep domain knowledge, extensive global experience and cost effective solutions address the speed to market and flexibility challenges of todays market.

ElectraCard Services enables financial institutions, retailers, finance companies and corporations to electronically process, in real-time, any type of payment transaction, including credit, debit, pre-paid, smart cards, and ACH. In addition to typical back office processing, ECS also offers ecommerce gateway and switching solutions. Its solutions support multiple institutions, multiple currencies, and varying processing requirements on a single platform. By providing comprehensive and flexible solutions that can be deployed to a market of one, ElectraCard Services offers unmatched services and solutions.