PURCHASE, N.Y., Oct. 15 -- MasterCard International has released the MasterCard Global Service(TM) PDA Guide, an online downloadable version of the MasterCard Global Service international emergency phone list for personal digital assistants (PDAs), including Palm OS and Microsoft CE-powered pocket PC devices.

Cardholders can now download the emergency service telephone numbers in their PDAs, making it as convenient to find MasterCard's emergency phone numbers as it is to look up an address from their personal address book. Consumers can use MasterCard Global Service numbers to call for assistance virtually anytime, anywhere, and in any language.

``Our numbers always have been easily accessible to cardholders via directory assistance, hotel concierge desks, bank mailings, and other sources,'' said Bonnie MacDonald, senior vice president, MasterCard Worldwide Cardholder Services. ``However, this new portable format puts the information literally at our customers' fingertips. No card offers easier access to customer service worldwide than the MasterCard card.''

Working with Seattle-based Palmtop Publishing, MasterCard has made the Global Service PDA Guide available to leading PDA-focused web sites, including (among others):

http://www.zdnet.com http://www.cnet.com http://www.PalmGear.com http://www.eurocool.com http://www.pdassi.de http://www.handago.com http://www.pocketnow.com http://www.palmtoppublishing.com/mastercard http://www.palmgear.com http://www.freewarepalm.com http://www.skipwire.com http://www.cewire.com

PDA and travel-related web sites worldwide are invited to share this essential MasterCard software for international travelers with their web site visitors. Developers and web administrators can visit http://palmtoppublishing.com/mastercard for information on adding the guide to their sites. Since its initial availability, the Global Service PDA guide has been downloaded by nearly two thousand PDA owners worldwide.

The compact, 27k, Palm OS PDA Guide is powered by award-winning OnTap® Technology, making it intuitive, fun to use, and easy to share person to person with a simple infrared beam. The Pocket PC edition is a 92k e-Book.

Last year, MasterCard cardholders accessed MasterCard Global Service over 780,000 times, receiving assistance by calling toll-free or collect from 200 countries in 74 languages. Call Center Magazine, a key publication covering the customer service industry, recently named the MasterCard Global Service Center the ``Call Center of the Year'' for the credit industry.

Examples of services available through MasterCard Global Service include:

 
     *  Lost and Stolen Card Reporting:  MasterCard notifies the issuer of the
        missing card within 15 minutes of the cardholder's call;
     *  Emergency Card Replacement:  With the issuer's approval, cardholders
        receive a temporary replacement card -- next day in the U.S. within
        two business days most everywhere else;
     *  Emergency Cash Advance:  Cardholders can receive cash -- within
        15 minutes in the U.S.; within one hour most everywhere else; and
     *  MasterCard/Cirrus ATM Locations:  Cardholders are directed to the
        nearest of our more than 602,000 ATMs.

About Palmtop Publishing

Founded in 1997, Palmtop Publishing is the leading provider of Palm OS and Microsoft Pocket PC Digital Marketing Giveaways and marketing communications solutions that put handheld computers directly in stream with traditional advertising and marketing communications messaging.

Headquartered in Seattle, WA with affiliate offices in San Francisco, Rochester NY, Pittsburgh, PA and Stockholm, Sweden, Palmtop Publishing is led by a group of embedded systems experts and smart, fast, pioneering women. This powerful team creates with an incredible passion for their craft, decades of unsurpassed expertise in embedded systems and field-based, remotely deployed solutions, and tremendous commitment to extending client messages creatively into a whole new dimension. Palmtop Publishing can be reached by phone at 206-923-0901 or by visiting http://www.palmtoppublishing.com.

OnTap is a registered trademark of Aegean Associates, Inc. Digital Marketing Giveaway is a trademark of Palmtop Publishing.

About MasterCard

MasterCard International has the most comprehensive portfolio of payment brands in the world. More than 1.7 billion MasterCard®, Cirrus® and Maestro® logos are present on credit, charge and debit cards in circulation today. An association comprised of more than 20,000 member financial institutions, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses, both large and small, in 210 countries and territories. MasterCard is the leader in quality and innovation, offering a wide range of payment solutions in the virtual and traditional worlds. MasterCard's award-winning Priceless® advertising campaign is now seen in 81 countries and in more than 36 languages, giving the MasterCard brand reach and scope unrivaled by any competitor in the industry. With more than 21 million acceptance locations, no card is accepted in more places and by more merchants than the MasterCard Card. In 2000, gross dollar volume exceeded US$857 billion. MasterCard can be reached through its World Wide Web site at http://www.mastercard.com.

SOURCE: MasterCard International