MasterCard Inc. launched a beta version of its developer's portal early last month.
The Purchase, N.Y., company invited only about 1,000 programmers to participate, a MasterCard spokeswoman said Thursday.
Today, developers can get access to MasterCard's payment network and code for creating discounts for MasterCard use.
They also get code for locating automated teller machines and for finding merchants that accept contactless payments.
"This is just the beginning," wrote Garry Lyons, the head of MasterCard Labs, in a blog post last month. "We will be enhancing the features of the services we're offering, plus adding many new services over the coming months and years."
The launch gives MasterCard the beginnings of a complete application programming interface.
This software allows programmers to interact with MasterCard's infrastructure.
Visa Inc. already maintains Authorize.Net, which it acquired last year as part of its purchase of CyberSource Corp.
PayPal Inc., the payments unit of eBay Inc., led the trend by launching its own developer network, PayPal X, in 2009.
Through this platform, PayPal has integrated its payment system with services provided by the bank vendors S1 Corp. and Fidelity National Information Services Inc., among others, to add PayPal's service to mobile payment and online bill pay systems.
