$1.27 trln spent with MasterCards

MasterCard International said consumers spent $1.27 trillion worldwide on MasterCard-branded cards in 2003, up 10% compared with a year earlier. The card association said the amount spent, or gross dollar volume, rose 10.4% on a U.S. dollar basis and 5.9% on a local currency basis compared with a year earlier. Dollar volume in its worldwide credit and charge programs rose 5.1% to $1 trillion, while dollar volume for offline, or signature-based, debit programs rose 9.3% to $237 billion.