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Now based in New York, MasterCard was the first payment card launched in China in 1987. It continued to be
run but a group of more than 25,000 banks until it went public in 2006.
MasterCard was one of the first to create PayPass technology, which allowed customers to make small
purchases by waiving their card in front of a machine.
American Express
Unlike Visa and MasterCard, which were created by banks, American Express began its life in 1850 as an
express mail alternative to the U.S. postal service.
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Its main customers were banks and, eager to break into the financial service market itself, American
Express started a money order service in 1882 and gradually shifted its operations from freight to
finances.
The company launched the first traveller’s cheques in 1891 and was given a contract by the Immigration
Department to change foreign currency for immigrants coming to the U.S. via Ellis Island. American
Express also built strong alliances with banks overseas affording travellers the ability to cash their
traveller's cheques.
American Express didn’t get into the credit card market until 1958 and within five years a million
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