ESG News For MasterCard Inc.

“Bridges don’t hold unless they are supported.” This quote from Bob Dickerson, Executive Director of the Birmingham Business Resource Center, reflected many of the themes explored at the sixth Mastercard Strive USA Summit, convened in Alabama.

In the past, most conversations about the Asian economy have centered around the glittering excesses of the upper classes, or the grinding poverty in rural areas. But not much has been said about the growing middle class in the region’s mid-sized cities.

The Asia-Pacific region is undergoing the largest middle-class expansion in history. By 2035, it will be home to 3.2 billion of the world’s 5 billion middle-class consumers.

500 Global and The Earthshot Prize are partnering on an investment strategy to identify, support and scale climate solutions across Emerging Markets.Supporting three themes at the intersection of climate impact and commercial viability: AgTech, Clean Tech, and Nature Tech.The strategy was announced at The Earthshot Prize Summit in Rio De Janeiro ahead of the 2025 Earthshot Prize Awards Night, targeting to roll out H1 of 2026.

The inaugural CUNY Career Discovery Week aims to connect local college-level students with New York City’s top employers

Travellers in the Netherlands (visitors and local commuters alike) simply tap their payment cards, smartphones or wearables to ride any of the country’s trains, trams or buses — even rental bikes.

What happens to local businesses after a hurricane passes? A joint study by the Mastercard Economics Institute and The World Bank economist Leora Klapper found that merchants typically lose two days’ worth of sales they never recover.

Jamie Dimon Moves into Founding Chair and Member of Executive Committee

Mike Birbiglia, Alex Edelman, Jim Gaffigan, Idina Menzel, Lea Michele, Leslie Odom, Jr., Tom Papa, Jon Stewart and more take the Lincoln Center stage November 10 in honor of our nation’s veterans and service members

Cardano Summit 2025 in Berlin - First Speakers announced for November showcase. Tickets available.

When Elana Boyd Pea arrived in New York City for Mastercard’s exclusive watch party of CNBC’s Small Business Playbook last week, she wasn’t just there to network. She was there to champion a mission that’s been in her DNA since childhood.

The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth announced a landmark collaboration with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Business Advisory Council to host the inaugural Mastercard ASEAN Inclusive Growth Summit in Kuala Lumpur in late October.

Over the past several years, the circular economy — a system that repurposes rather than discards existing goods — has been gaining momentum, driven by a combination of powerful forces.

When the World Bank released the first Global Findex report in 2011, it revealed a stark reality: Only 51% of adults worldwide had access to formal financial services. Fast-forward to today and that number has surged to 79%.

Mentorship is more than advice — it’s about the relationships that shape us, the trust that builds over time, and the strengths we bring that can’t be taught.

The Mobilizing Access to the Digital Economy (MADE) Alliance: Africa welcomes the World Bank as third co-chair, alongside Mastercard and the African Development Bank Group.

When it comes to the environmental impact of carbon emissions from everyday consumer purchases, Mastercard is in a unique position to inform and enable people to make more conscious choices.

Through its Global Gateway initiative and expanding network of partnerships, Europe is making a strategic bet on inclusive, sustainable development worldwide.

Mastercard showcases how it is advancing against its mission to power economies and empower people, building a sustainable economy where everyone prospers, in its 2024 Impact Report.

Mastercard’s new campaign features “I Can’t Lose” video to rally, honor and inspire people to share how they #StandUpWithMastercard

When the pandemic upended cities and forced thousands of businesses to close in 2020, Daria and Oksana Kulachek bucked the trend. Armed with flaky pistachio croissants and creamy gateaux, they launched Defidu Bakery in downtown Prague.

The global middle class is growing — and the next billion consumers will shape the next decade of markets, movements, and innovation. This session dives into who they are, where they live, how old they are, and what they’re spending on.

Mastercard has been transforming transit in cities across the globe, making it easier for riders to get from A to B with just a simple tap.

A special announcement from the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth signals the power of cross-border partnerships.

Secondhand, pre-loved, pre-owned, upcycled – no matter the stitch or state, the circular fashion market is gaining popularity, according to the Mastercard Economics Institute.

Loaded with microscopes, robots and VR headsets, Croatia’s “STEM on Wheels” mobile lab weaves its way from tiny mountain villages to Adriatic islands, giving kids the hands-on science skills they need to get ahead.

No one would ever mistake me for chill, but come vacation time, my anxiety ramps up, not down. Is three hours enough time to get to the airport three miles away? Did I pack my earbuds? Did I pack my back-up earbuds? My back-up back-up earbuds?

A staggering 36 million North American consumers — 12% of the population — are underbanked, navigating their financial lives with a bank account but without access to essential credit tools like credit cards.

These are truly dizzying times, but if there was a single takeaway from the Global Inclusive Growth Summit held last month in Washington, D.C., it was this: The world can’t afford to heed the standard advice for vertigo — sit down, lie still.

Whether they build policy or code, companies or communities, the 400 leaders gathered in Washington, D.C., this week for the 2025 Global Inclusive Growth Summit all shared a mission – to explore new ways to grow opportunities and build resilience for all.

Each year, we orchestrate the Global Inclusive Growth Summit to power conversations, propel progress and produce change. But as we prepare for Thursday’s summit in Washington, D.C., the challenges are more complicated and require more collaboration.

As Peruvian biologist Constantino Aucca Chutas sat chewing coca leaves with a local elder high in the Andes, his companion pointed to a peak known as Demon Mountain and shared how its rocky slopes were once snow-covered.

Tanya Van Court was about to learn a lesson that would change her life. In 2001, after earning her master’s in industrial engineering from Stanford University, Van Court was vice president at a broadband internet provider in Silicon Valley.

These days, there’s nothing small about small business. The global economy has always stood on the shoulders of small businesses, and the digital revolution is enabling them to grow beyond Main Street into the world marketplace.

This annual event, hosted by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, will explore how we can build strong growth and economic opportunity for all.

Working as a waitress in Greenville, a small city of less than 30,000 nestled in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, Kenesha Lewis thrived off the strong connections she created with her regular customers and dreamed of one day starting her own business.

Entrepreneurial spirit is high among women in Europe – particularly younger generations – in a bid to pursue their dreams, gain financial independence, improve work-life flexibility, and make a difference in the world.

Starting on January 7, a series of ferocious wildfires erupted in the Los Angeles area, burning more than 40,000 acres and causing roughly $14.8 billion in damages.

Most entrepreneurs dream of tapping into the kind of capital, industry connections and sophisticated software that Martin Naor has at his fingertips.

As Chelsee Pettit kneeled on the floor, a bottle of Windex in one hand, a fistful of paper towels in the other, she knew one thing for certain: She had made it.

Creating and sticking with good habits isn’t easy. It takes time and repetition and requires the kind of discipline that, for many of us, is hard to access.

More than 3,000 business and government leaders, academics and artists gathered in the mostly snow-less Swiss Alps for the World Economic Forum’s annual summit in Davos under the banner “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age” last week.

For many innovators in the EU, partnerships with established organizations are essential for distributing their solutions to small businesses.

In the U.S., there’s a prevailing narrative, propelled in part by politics, that the electric vehicle boom is over.

Impact Podcast with John Shegerian has announced its roster of guests for Q1 of 2025, featuring a who’s who of circularity, sustainability and corporate responsibility all-stars from many of the world’s leading brands.The Webby Award honored show is hosted by John Shegerian, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of ERI, the nation’s leading fully integrated IT and electronics asset disposition provider and cybersecurity-focused hardware destruction company.Upcoming episodes for the first quarter of 2025

Extending credit to Colombian micro-entrepreneurs to reducing maternal morbidity rates in Ethiopia to delivering lifesaving information to refugees around the world, the power of artificial intelligence is being matched with the potential for inclusion and economic empowerment.

This year, a hurricane washed away mountain towns in the U.S., a brutal heat dome oppressed India and wildfires ravaged South America.

At Mastercard, we’re proud of the small role we play, alongside a laudable cast of public and private partners, in building a society where everyone has the tools and support needed to thrive.

At the tender age of 19, Alice de Crom dreamed of being a florist and owning her own shop. So her mom took a huge leap of faith and sold her house to finance Floralista Flower Studio in Fort Langley, British Columbia — and quit her job to work there alongside her daughter.

Trawling the supermarket aisles for dinner, most people’s eyes gravitate to the price tag and preparation time.