MC INFORMATION CENTER
FAQs

I don.t know if you can answer my question but…?

If we can.t answer your question we will try to find someone who can.

What is ICE?

ICE is a Web-enabled Lotus Notes database that contains press and other relevant industry information. ICE has a 60-day archive of targeted information from newspapers, trade and industry journals as well as many other sources. ICE is also an alert service. You can subscribe to 1 or more topics and you will receive one e-mail daily from the ICEBox when new Items are released on your selected topics.

Could you give me a few examples of what you mean when you refer to the "secondary information sources" that are housed in the Information Center?

Very simply, secondary information sources are publicly available, published resources that are readily available through direct purchase from a publisher or vendor, in either print or electronic format. At MasterCard this includes books, magazines, newsletters, and syndicated research studies, as well as reports from the Conference Board of America, the Conference Board of Canada, and the Marketing Science Institute. We also maintain access to leading computerized database services, such as Nexis and Factiva, as well as a variety of information services that are specialized to the payments industry.These services allow us to broaden the scope of the research process substantially, by providing access electronically to thousands of publications, in a fraction of the time required to perform traditional manual research.

I always need quick turn-around time on my information request. On average, how long does it take the Information Center to respond to my request?

Our mission is to turn the majority of requests around in 24 hours, although requests that are extremely intricate, or multi-part requests, may take longer. The key to effective information gathering is customizing our response to a specific user.s needs and using multiple resources, such as reference books, syndicated research, commercial databases and internal expertise to most effectively answer queries. We will work with you to assemble customized information for your subsequent review and analysis.

Can the Information Center provide me with economic or market overview data on a particular region and its countries?

Yes, one of the resources available in the Information Center is the Standard & Poor.s DRI Country Outlook information. These reports, which are continuously updated, contain both current and forecasted economic indicators on almost every country, and can be provided to you electronically.

Do you maintain any special collections?

Yes, we maintain a Diversity Collection that contains current books on this topic, which are contributed by the Diversity Group within MasterCard. Diversity issues are an important corporate-wide initiative, and while this collection is presently quite small, it is expected to grow. We also maintain a section that houses copies of the on-going strategic studies conducted by the Global Information & Research Group, such as the Global Consumer Tracking Study, the Global Acceptance & Signage Audit, and the MasterCard Index of Consumer Confidence.

Is there a tool I can use to identify the titles of resources that are available to me at the Information Center?

The Information Center's Catalog is your gateway to the resources available to you in print format. >The Catalog allows you to access our resources, by title, author, subject and format additionally, if an electronic version of a document is available, we will provide access via a direct link to the document or report somewhere within the record. Please be advised that some resources are restricted in their circulation to members and individuals outside of MasterCard, so remember to check any notations in red that may appear in the record.

If MasterCard has conducted any primary market research or competitive studies, would these reports also be accessible through the Information Center's Catalog?

Yes, the beauty of the Information Center Catalog is that it offers "one-stop shopping" by capturing all of the resources available through the Information Center in one place. In the case of primary and value-added research, this includes the results of primary market research studies requested by internal MasterCard clients; strategic on-going MasterCard studies, such as the Global Consumer Tracking Study; and Competitive Briefings. Primary market research studies are coordinated and overseen by our Global Information & Research Group, while value-added competitive research is developed and disseminated by the Competitive Intelligence Group within GIR. Frequently, the entire study will be available in hard copy in the Information Center. In cases where access to the full study is restricted, an abstract of the study and an internal contact name in Global Information & Research will appear in the record.

Am I required to use the information center's resources on-site or may I check them out?

While you are free to utilize our resources on-site, we make provisions for you to check out resources for a period of 3 days. You may be able to utilize resources longer if no one else requires them. However, we request that books and syndicated research studies be picked up personally, as we do not send them through interoffice mail. Results of commercial database searches on Nexis, Factiva, and other specialized database services will be sent to you electronically as e-mail attachments whenever possible.

In our high-tech, electronic world, why aren't all your resources available electronically?

The decision to acquire resources in a print or electronic version is impacted by a number of considerations, the most paramount being the type of access needed, and cost considerations. At the present time, it is simply not cost-effective to bring all of the resources we access to everyone's desktop. Also, not all publishers make their information available in an electronic format, and a few still have stringent copyright restrictions that prohibit electronic distribution of any type. At the present time, a judicious mix of print and electronic information sources is the best model for MasterCard Incorporated.