Card Briefs: MasterCard Installs Upgraded Imager

MasterCard International has finished installing the latest upgrade of MasterCom, the electronic imaging system that banks use to resolve chargebacks and other transaction disputes.

MasterCard's 23,000 member banks began receiving the new software last July, and the rollout will be completed this month.

MasterCom is a 10-year-old product, but the latest version works faster, is more flexible, operates in real time, and can be used at different kinds of workstations, said Richelle Weisbrod, vice president of MasterCard commercial products support.

"You're no longer tied to a specific place to do your retrieval requests and chargebacks," she said.

Separately, MasterCard said it has completed a six-year internal systems upgrade, which enabled it to process more than 550 million cards with expiration dates of 2000 or later without incident.

More than two-thirds of MasterCard cards in circulation expire in 2000 and beyond, the company said. About 98% of payment transactions worldwide are expected to be tested on-line for Y2K bugs by June 30.

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