MasterCard Easy Savings™ Program Responds to Rising Fuel Cost by Offering Small Businesses Automatic Savings on Gas Purchases

First of its kind partnership offers small businesses automatic rebates on gas and maintenance purchases at 16,800 participating Fuelman Network locations nationwide

PURCHASE, N.Y., May 7 /PRNewswire/ -- MasterCard Worldwide today announced it is the first payments company to offer small businesses automatic savings on fuel and maintenance through the addition of the Fuelman Network, a nationally recognized fuel and maintenance network, to the MasterCard Easy Savings(TM) program. MasterCard BusinessCard(R) credit and signature debit cardholders enrolled in the program will now receive savings on fuel and maintenance purchases at more than 16,800 participating locations in the Fuelman Network nationwide.

Climbing fuel prices have seen U.S. gasoline demand reach its lowest levels since April 2005. Clearly this indicates that high fuel prices are draining financial resources from business segments including small businesses which are very susceptible to rising gas and diesel prices. Not surprisingly, recent MasterCard research shows that nearly 70% of small businesses are interested in saving on fuel.

"We recognize that small businesses are some of the hardest hit by increasing fuel costs and are proud to partner with the Fuelman Network to be the first payments company to provide small businesses with automatic savings that help alleviate this burden," said Bruno Perreault, Group Head, Small and Mid-Sized Enterprises, MasterCard Worldwide. "The addition of fuel and maintenance categories to the MasterCard Easy Savings program demonstrates our commitment to continue to provide small businesses with savings in business- relevant categories while also enabling merchants and financial institutions with a unique way to both reach and build loyalty with small businesses."

MasterCard BusinessCard cardholders enrolled in the MasterCard Easy Savings program can now enjoy a one percent (1%) automatic rebate on fuel (gas and diesel) at more than 15,000 gas stations in the Fuelman Network, and a five percent (5%) rebate on all maintenance purchases made at the more than 1,800 participating Fuelman Network maintenance locations across the country.

"With more than 25 years of experience serving small and mid-sized businesses, the Fuelman Network is excited to join the MasterCard Easy Savings program as part of our commitment to providing industry-leading solutions to the business marketplace," said Steve Smith, Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for FleetCor, the parent company to the Fuelman Network. "Small businesses, especially those that provide delivery services or manage fleet vehicles, are spending in the neighborhood of $7,500 per vehicle each year on gas. So, these savings can help facilitate the growth of their business."

Small businesses can visit http://www.easysavings.com/ to find out more information about the Fuelman Network, including how to locate participating gas stations and maintenance locations. The website provides a Fuelman site locator tool that makes it easy for small businesses to find locations within the Fuelman Network around any U.S. zip code. So, whether at home, business or while traveling fuel savings are available to enrolled MasterCard small business cardholders.

In addition to the gas and maintenance savings from the Fuelman Network, the MasterCard Easy Savings program provides MasterCard BusinessCard credit and signature debit cardholders automatic rebates at a wide-range of business- relevant companies, including: Avis, Budget, DHL, Microsoft adCenter, Monster, Administaff, Inc., HRTools.com, Midwest Airlines, Maggiano's Little Italy, Mimeo.com, SurePayroll, Website Pros, and Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. A full listing of merchants and more information regarding their offers can be found at http://www.easysavings.com/.

   Contact:
   Jon Schwartz
   MasterCard Worldwide
   914-249-6806
   jon_schwartz@mastercard.com

   Jessi Newman
   Weber Shandwick
   952-346-6026
   jnewman@webershandwick.com

   Emily Ward
   Fuelman Network
   DDB Public Relations
   416-963-4295
   emily.ward@can.ddbpr.com

  About MasterCard Worldwide

MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes over 18 billion transactions each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial institution customers and merchants. Through its family of brands, including MasterCard(R), Maestro(R) and Cirrus(R), MasterCard serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information go to http://www.mastercard.com/.

About FleetCor

FleetCor (http://www.fleetcor.com/), the parent company of the Fuelman Network, is a worldwide leader in fuel card processing. FleetCor serves over 650,000 business fleets, and approximately 3.5 million active cardholders in the U.S.A., Canada, and Europe. The Fuelman network is a network of independently owned merchants that participate together to help provide business fleets with systems that help control spending and reduce fleet expenses. At the same time, Fuelman merchants profit from additional fleet customers which bring increased volume to their sites. FleetCor and its subsidiaries employ over 900 associates located in 26 offices globally. FleetCor is privately owned by management, and a group of institutional private equity investors including Bain Capital, Summit Partners, and Advent International.