PURCHASE, N.Y., (BUSINESS WIRE)–MasterCard Worldwide today unveiled MasterCard® Nearby™, a trial of a new service that allows MasterCard cardholders to use their mobile phones to access a wealth of helpful information, including ATM and merchant locations, driving directions, rewards and special offers, and much more. All MasterCard cardholders in the United States are now eligible to sign up for MasterCard Nearby at http://www.mcnearby.com or by calling (877) 877-NEAR from any phone.

“MasterCard Nearby offers a new way for issuers, merchants and consumers to communicate and strengthen relationships with one another. It also delivers heightened convenience to busy MasterCard cardholders on the go,” said Tatiana Mulry, vice president, Mobile / Wireless Center of Excellence, MasterCard Worldwide. “As this is an opt-in program, we are able to tailor it to the needs of individual cardholders. The more they ask for, the more MasterCard Nearby can deliver. We are also actively working with issuers and merchants to develop customized versions of MasterCard Nearby.”

The MasterCard Nearby site is accessible from any compatible web-enabled mobile phone. Interested consumers merely need to use their computer to access http://www.mcnearby.com, identify themselves as MasterCard cardholders, and then create a unique user profile. Sign-up and profile management are simple and intuitive processes.

This service was developed in partnership with go2®, the leading mobile, local search and content network in the U.S. MasterCard Nearby users will be able to access the information they deem vital; that information can then be viewed on the mobile Internet or delivered to their mobile phones via an SMS text message. Ongoing access is then available directly on the phone. Once consumers log into the WAP (mobile web) site at http://wap.mcnearby.com for the first time, they are permanently logged into the service.

“Consumers have the ability to search for ATMs and merchant locations in the U.S. as well as ATMs in several countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. Cardholders have come to expect a wide variety of services, rewards and offers when using their MasterCard payment cards, and we want to translate that experience to the mobile phone environment,” added Tatiana Mulry.

“Having operated as one of the most widely used mobile, local search and content networks in the U.S. for several years, go2 is keenly aware of the growing consumer demand for timely and relevant information over mobile phones,” said Lee Hancock, founder and chief executive officer of go2. “MasterCard recognized this demand and need in the mobile market, and go2 is delighted to be partnering with MasterCard to leverage its incredible resources and vision to bring additional value and appeal to MasterCard’s cardholders, issuers and merchant partners. We believe MasterCard Nearby may evolve into one of the most valuable and useful services available over mobile phones.”

MasterCard and the Mobile Phone

An information delivery service like MasterCard Nearby is only one of the ways MasterCard is leveraging the mobile phone to deliver value to cardholders. Another MasterCard-driven mobile initiative is point-of-sale payments by phone. Recently, MasterCard has undertaken several trials of MasterCard® PayPass™-enabled mobile phones. In one such trial in the New York City subway system, participants were allowed to tap their phone on a special reader rather than using standard fare cards, thereby speeding passage through the subway turnstiles. MasterCard is participating in contactless mobile phone trials underway in several countries, in partnership with major telecom companies and financial institutions. In addition to information delivery and contactless payment, MasterCard is also working to enable person-to-person cross-border money transfers via mobile phone.

About MasterCard Worldwide

MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic link between financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes more than 16 billion payments each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial institution customers and merchants. Through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro® and Cirrus®, MasterCard Worldwide serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information go to http://www.mastercardworldwide.com.

About go2® Directory Systems

go2 owns and operates numerous online and mobile websites as part of the carrier-centric go2 Mobile Content Network™, which provides mobile users with easy access to compelling information on-the-go, advertisers and marketers with an immediate, powerful, cost-effective way to reach mobile consumers, and content partners with an efficient way to mobilize and monetize their content. Since 2001, go2 has delivered more than one billion WAP page views of local search information and content to mobile phone users in the U.S. go2 has industry-leading distribution and mobile web menu placements on most major U.S. carriers. The go2 Mobile Content Network includes over 150 mobile websites, including go2 Movies®, go2 Dining™, go2 Golf™, go2 Travel™ and over 130 mobile websites dedicated to specific colleges and universities throughout the U.S. (e.g. go2 UCLA, go2 Harvard, etc.). All go2 mobile content sites are fully integrated and personalized for users through go2’s patented location technologies and, where available from carriers, incorporate the ability to automatically locate users with GPS-like LBS technologies. go2’s mobile websites also feature such detailed information as local entertainment, magazine articles, movie reviews and showtimes, sports trivia, travel information and weather together with one-touch calling, turn-by-turn directions and detailed information on thousands of U.S. businesses.

go2 advertisers and mobile content partners include ABC, Acura, American Express, Delta, ExxonMobil, Golf Digest, Holiday Inn, MasterCard, Nokia, SBC, Shell, Sony, Toyota, Visa and Yahoo! Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., go2 is a privately held company. For more information, visit http://www.go2.com.

go2®, the go2 Mobile Content Network™ and the family of terms carrying the “go2” prefix are registered and unregistered trademarks or service marks of UDS Directory Corp., dba go2.