MASTERCARD HAS ISSUED 17 MILLION SMART CARDS IN ASIA.(MasterCard International Inc.)(Brief Article)

MasterCard International today said it has issued more than 17 million smart cards throughout its Asia-Pacific Region as of the end of last year. "The year-on-year growth of MasterCard's smart cards in Asia-Pacific has been phenomenal," Shuan Ghaidan, MasterCard's vice president of Advanced Payment Systems in Asia-Pacific, said in a statement. "We have seen more than a 100% increase for each of the past three years." Some 90% of the cards are Europay-MasterCard-Visa compliant, Ghaidan says. MasterCard credits the growth to several things - 50 new issuers and acquirers signed up …