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SCOTT JAGOW: MasterCard holds its annual shareholder meeting today. Well, “annual”— it’s only the second one — the company just went public a year ago. But so far, so good. MasterCard’s stock has quadrupled since then. More now from Jill Barshay.

Jill Barshay: MasterCard is sitting on a $2.5 billion cash cushion.

Kurt Strawhecker is a consultant to the industry. He says more shoppers are swiping plastic instead of paying by cash or check.

Kurt Strawhecker: Every year over the last three to four years, the industry growth in terms of the number of transactions have grown somewhere between 15 to 18 percent.

Each one of those transactions earns a fee for credit card companies like MasterCard. Now, MasterCard executives say they want to go on a shopping spree of their own.

Strawhecker says they may be eyeing new technology.

Strawhecker: Point-of-sale devices that would speed the point-of-sale transaction. That would be an excellent example of something that MasterCard would probably like to delve into.

Now Visa hopes to copy MasterCard’s success on Wall Street. Visa plans to go public by early next year.

In New York, I’m Jill Barshay for Marketplace.

TEXT OF STORY

SCOTT JAGOW: MasterCard holds its annual shareholder meeting today. Well, “annual”— it’s only the second one — the company just went public a year ago. But so far, so good. MasterCard’s stock has quadrupled since then. More now from Jill Barshay.

Jill Barshay: MasterCard is sitting on a $2.5 billion cash cushion.

Kurt Strawhecker is a consultant to the industry. He says more shoppers are swiping plastic instead of paying by cash or check.

Kurt Strawhecker: Every year over the last three to four years, the industry growth in terms of the number of transactions have grown somewhere between 15 to 18 percent.

Each one of those transactions earns a fee for credit card companies like MasterCard. Now, MasterCard executives say they want to go on a shopping spree of their own.

Strawhecker says they may be eyeing new technology.

Strawhecker: Point-of-sale devices that would speed the point-of-sale transaction. That would be an excellent example of something that MasterCard would probably like to delve into.

Now Visa hopes to copy MasterCard’s success on Wall Street. Visa plans to go public by early next year.

In New York, I’m Jill Barshay for Marketplace.