What is Mastercard?
Mastercard is a payment network. In fact, it's one of the four major payment networks in the United States.
(Alright, if you want to get technical, Mastercard Inc. is a financial services company. But the heart of that company is the payment network known as Mastercard, MasterCard®, or mastercard®, depending on the current stylization.)
As a payment network, Mastercard helps to process credit and debit card transactions from its partner institutions. Essentially, when you use your payment card at a retailer to make a purchase, that transaction information is sent to your bank via the payment network. If your bank/credit card issuer approves the transaction, the payment is sent back through the network to the retailer.
Which credit cards does Mastercard issue?
Mastercard doesn't directly issue any credit cards.
In credit card jargon, an issuer is a bank that provides the credit line for the credit card. When you use your card to buy something, the issuing bank pays for it. Then, you make payments to the issuer. In contrast, credit card networks authorize and process the transaction. They help move the payments between parties.
Mastercard is not a bank or a credit card issuer. Mastercard is a payment network.
Any credit cards with a Mastercard logo have been issued by a partner bank. These cards simply operate on the Mastercard credit card network. All credit cards will have both the Mastercard logo and the logo from the issuing bank.
LEARN MORE: List of credit card companies
For example, the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card is issued by Capital One but it operates on the Mastercard network. As such, it will have both the Capital One logo and the Mastercard logo.
Mastercard credit cards are issued by a score of banks ranging from small local banks to global brands. Some issuers work almost exclusively with Mastercard. In particular, nearly every Citi credit card operates on the Mastercard network, including these favorites:
Other issuers have a more even split between Visa and Mastercard. But most major issuers have at least a few Mastercard credit cards. For instance, Chase credit cards heavily favor Visa, but even they have a Mastercard option:
Mastercard is also a common network for many open-loop retail credit cards. Open-loop store cards can be used anywhere, not just with a specific retail brand. Open-loop retail credit cards will have three different logos: one for the retailer, one for the issuing bank, and one for the network.
Here are some popular examples of retail Mastercards (issuer in parentheses):
Networks that are also issuers
One thing that adds to the issuer/network confusion is that, while Mastercard and Visa don't issue any cards, that's not the case for all networks. These networks also issue credit cards:
(Technically, the issuer and network are still separate companies. For example, Discover cards are issued by Discover® Bank and they operate on the Discover Network. Functionally, however, a Discover card is a Discover card, period.)
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