MasterCard Incorporated is a multinational company offering different financial services. The main headquarters of the company is located in New York. They also have their Global Operations Headquarters located in Missouri. MasterCard started as a cooperative owned by over 25,000 financial institutions that issue their branded cards. The company mainly processes payments between card issuing banks and banks of merchants all throughout the world. MasterCard is now a leading financial service provider, famous for its credit and debit brand. The company employs around 5,600 people all over the world.
The MasterCard logo changed its appearance six times as the company expanded through the years. To explain further, here is the mystery behind the different MasterCard logos.
Design Elements of the MasterCard Logo
Color of the MasterCard Logo
The MasterCard logo is famous for using only two primary colors: yellow and red. The yellow color represents prosperity, happiness, and wealth, which shows the company’s undying desire to help their customers experience the good life. The vibrant red color suggests vitality. MasterCard promotes continuity of life. They have been strong and active in giving superb financial services to their loyal customers.
Font of the MasterCard Logo
The unique font of the MasterCard logo is derived from the original Frutiger Bold Italic.
Shape of the MasterCard Logo
1966 was the start of the union of seventeen bankers as they felt the reciprocal acceptance of their credits cards from the people. They have built an organization named “Interbank”, thus the brainchild of MasterCard’s interbank logo. The “i” symbolizes its participation in the Interbank Card Association.
Their 1969 logo was the earliest known logo from MasterCard (formerly known as Master Charge) that was publicly introduced.
In 1979, the name changed into MasterCard. The original logo remained. However, the letter “i” and the tagline “We Honor the Interbank Card” were removed.
MasterCard released a new logo having bolder colors and 23 horizontal bars between the two circles.
A more eye-catching font was used for the logo in the year 1996. The 23 bars were cut down and the colors were a little more striking. This new logo shows Mastercard’s more powerful aura in the field of financial services.
MasterCard presented their newest logo, featuring blurred circles with gradients. The company’s cards use the 1996 logo. The redesign, however, only gives a new look for the corporate branding. Despite the constant change in logos, MasterCard has maintained the level of service they used to give to their clients. Well, as they say, “There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard.”