Mastercard

A global payment network that connects banks, shops and cardholders. Its UK business sits in central London and it runs a graduate programme and internships there.

About Mastercard

Mastercard is a global payments company. Like Visa, its main job is not to lend money but to run the network that carries payments between a shop's bank and the bank that issued your card. It also sells payment-related services, including travel-related payments and bookings. When you pay with a Mastercard debit, credit or prepaid card, this is the system working in the background.

The company began in 1966 in Buffalo, New York, when a group of banks formed Interbankard, Inc. It was first called Interbank and then Master Charge before becoming Mastercard. Its headquarters is in Purchase, New York. It has deep UK links: Wikipedia records its 2010 purchase of DataCash, a UK payment processor, and its 2016 purchase of a majority stake in VocaLink, the British company that ran key parts of the UK's bank-to-bank payment systems.

Mastercard's best-known products are its credit, debit and prepaid cards and contactless payments. More recently it has announced an AI agent suite for businesses (January 2026) and moves into stablecoin and crypto-related payment services. It works with Apple on Apple Pay and sponsors McLaren in Formula One, the UEFA Champions League and other sporting events.

Mastercard has talked about widening access to digital payments for people who are outside the banking system. The pages we read do not give a formal mission statement, so that is our summary of its stated aims rather than a quote.

For young people, Mastercard's careers site has a London page describing a central London office on Angel Lane with views over the Thames, and says it has been named a top UK workplace by several awards bodies. The company advertises a Launch graduate programme with roles in London, including a 2026 data engineering role, and summer internships. Roles span technology, product, sales and customer solutions. Check the current listings for exact openings.

What they do

• {'desc': "Payments between shops' banks and card issuers for credit, debit and prepaid cards.", 'title': 'Card network'}
• {'desc': 'Tap-to-pay and wallet payments.', 'title': 'Contactless and digital payments'}
• {'desc': 'Payment services for companies, including travel-related payments.', 'title': 'Business and travel payments'}
• {'desc': 'Fraud prevention and insights built on payments data.', 'title': 'Data and security services'}

Key facts

• Headquarters: Purchase, New York, USA
• UK presence: central London office (Angel Lane); owns VocaLink, the UK payment-systems company, since 2016
• Founded: 1966 in Buffalo, New York (as Interbankard)
• UK early careers: Launch graduate programme (London roles) and internships, per careers.mastercard.com

Website: www.mastercard.com