MANILA, Philippines - MasterCard recently announced a 22 percent increase in gross dollar volume for MasterCard premium credit and charge programs in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa region for the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2010 versus the same period in 2009. The strong increase in transaction value was bolstered by a 14 percent growth in the number of MasterCard-branded premium cards issued in the region.
This solid growth momentum cuts across MasterCard’s premium card segment, which includes World MasterCard®, targeted at the discerning elite affluent segment, Titanium MasterCard, targeted at the upwardly mobile and financially confident consumer, and Platinum.
MasterCard research shows that the size and spending power of the affluent and rich consumers of Asia are expected to expand quickly over the next decade. By 2016, affluent Asia, which comprises developed markets like Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, is expected to total more than 11 million wealthy households, while markets in emerging Asia, including China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, will have more than 58 million households.
Discretionary spending power of Asia’s young premium consumers –young singles, young married couples with no children and young married couples with children under 10 – will reach an estimated US$834 billion in 2016 from $598 billion in 2006.2
To satisfy the evolving needs of the vast, fast growing affluent segment in the region, MasterCard has leveraged consumer insights with its Priceless proposition to deliver innovative and distinctive premium programs.