ONLINE GAMBLING ON MASTERCARD’S LOBBY LIST

Posted 1/8/11 : Card processor spent $840 000 on Q3 lobbying of Congress
 
Financial processing giant Mastercard Inc spent $840 000 – with internet gambling as one of its targets – on lobbying activities in Q3 of 2010, reports the Bloomberg's business news service this week.
 
Other topics on the company's federal government lobbying list included the regulation of consumer financial products, interchange fees and online payments, according to its mandatory disclosure report.
 
Increased lobbying activity represented a 24 percent jump from the $680 000 Mastercard spent in the third quarter of 2009, but a significant reduction from the $2.33 million it paid lobbyists in the second quarter of 2010, when the US government's financial overhaul bill was working its way through Congress.
 
Mastercard lobbyists focused on aspects of the financial reform that impact credit and debit cards, including measures related to the fees charged merchants for processing payments, Bloombergs notes.
 
Other issues included card issuer practices, data security, the use of cards for Internet-based purchases, the regulation of internet gambling, market access in global markets and intellectual property enforcement.