Started by a group of banks in 1966, MasterCard recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Originally known as the Interbank Card Association, it went through a name change 13 years later, and shortly thereafter, achieved a milestone by becoming the first credit card issuer to have services in China. Its expanded its global presence ever since, partnering with Europay International in 2002, the first year it became a private share corporation. MasterCard is on par with Visa in merchant acceptance, totaling nearly 10 million, according to Nerdwallet.