Thank you for letting us know you appreciate the quality of the cover story for The Green Sheet May 25, 2009, issue 09:05:02. We strive to offer timely information that will help our readers thrive in their careers, and we count on feedback from people like you to help us continue to provide useful, stimulating content as the industry continues to evolve. The text at the top of page 63 should have said "Encryption from page 1." It was a slip, but not likely of the Freudian kind. It's just an error we failed to catch during the proofing process; please accept our apologies.

Editor

We referred your question to Green Sheet Advisory Board member Ken Musante, Executive Vice President and Chief Sales Officer of Moneris Solutions. His response follows:

MasterCard Worldwide's interchange can be found at the following URL: www.mastercard.com/us/merchant/acceptance/interchange_rates.html

High Value World Interchange is addressed on pages 44 to 55. The High Value interchange schedule and rates are identical to those of MasterCard World Elite.

The reason they have separate schedules is that the High Value and World Elite are targeted to different consumer bases. High Value targets consumers spending over a threshold of $50,000 per year; World Elite targets high net-worth and high-income individuals.

Although the two interchange schedules are the same, at some point, MasterCard could differentiate these programs. This allows for greater flexibility in targeting MasterCard's competitors - Visa Inc. and American Express Co.

We hope this explanation is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions.

And thank you, Ken Musante.

Editor