Letters

I am writing in response to Matthew Weinstock's article "Pressing Charges" (December 2003). The article highlights maverick spending by government employees.

In the late 1980s, MasterCard began working with government agencies to develop and implement the first public-sector purchasing card program. Since then, we have continued to work in tandem with member financial institutions and governmental agencies to refine these programs in response to the evolving needs of the market. Over the years, these programs have been very successful, thus enabling government agencies and the taxpayers to reap millions of dollars in savings.

MasterCard understands there is work to be done in the industry, and we are being proactive by working with many government organizations to meet these challenges head-on. Today, many government agencies and corporations rely on MasterCard to deliver robust-and controlled-purchasing card programs. Our goal is to ensure that our member financial institutions provide government agencies with the most effective purchasing card programs available.

It is important to recognize the many federal agencies that have already worked closely with MasterCard to adopt solutions and practices that help mitigate the risk of purchasing abuse, such as MasterCard's Program Assessment services which includes a proprietary fraud and abuse detection tool, Aristion. These purchasing card programs serve as a model and a best practice for others in government to follow.

By continually working with our customers to learn what is effective, we are able to partner with our member banks to deliver leading-edge solutions. As a long-term partner to government, MasterCard is committed to continuing to implement purchasing controls that en sure best practices in government spending.

Eva Robinson
Vice President
Global Public Sector Payment Solutions
MasterCard International