PURCHASE, N.Y. – MasterCard International announced that it continues to have a strong, posting double digit growth in both gross dollar volume and gross purchase volume, indicating both that cardholders around the globe have been both purchasing more with MasterCard and using their MasterCard's more often. However, the American market ranked near the bottom of growth for the card brand, with Latin America leading the pack and South Asia/ Middle East and Africa coming in a close second. "MasterCard's customer-centric approach enables us to bring value to our key stakeholders as a thoughtful and innovative partner focused on helping them build, manage and enhance the profitability of their payments businesses," said Alan Heuer, CEO of MasterCard. "MasterCard's results for the first half of this year are a testament to the global strength of the MasterCard brand and our ability to work with our member financial institutions to deliver the best payment solutions in the industry."