Mastercard, a major global payments company by market capitalization, was founded in 1966 under what original name?

Mastercard was founded in 1966 under the original name Interbank Card Association.

The organization was created by a group of United States banks to compete with Bank of America's BankAmericard program, which later became Visa. Interbank Card Association operated a shared payment-card network rather than functioning as one individual issuing bank. Its early network used the “Master Charge” brand.

In 1979, the company changed its name to MasterCard International. The brand was later styled as Mastercard, and the company adopted its current corporate name, Mastercard Incorporated, in 2006. Its network connects cardholders, merchants, banks, and payment processors, while individual banks commonly issue the cards.

Mastercard and Visa are often mixed up because both operate global payment networks and neither is simply a conventional retail bank. Mastercard's 1966 origin therefore differs from Visa's beginning as BankAmericard, a program launched by Bank of America.