As the wildfires burn in the west and Hurricane Laura makes landfall in the U.S., these natural disasters are causing widespread destruction from coast to coast. With more than 650 wildfires in California having burned over 1.5 million acres and Hurricane Laura striking Louisiana and Texas, causing massive destruction and flooding, help is needed urgently.

Covid-19 continues to impact communities around the world, both disasters are colliding with the pandemic requiring additional precaution and support.

Mastercard announced today it will make a donation of US$200,000 to the American Red Cross and also partner with the organization, among others, to help deliver financial assistance to people in need. As part of this, the company will match every employee donation made by its employees to the Red Cross.

Additionally, together with its issuing banks, Mastercard will also waive any interchange related to donations through November 2, 2020 to a variety of charitable organizations supporting those impacted by the natural disasters.

Specific charities include:

• Americares

• American Red Cross

• Doctors Without Borders

• International Rescue Committee

• Mercy Corps

• Save the Children

• World Vision

• World Food Program USA

 
Mastercard is tapping its global network and technology to help. With Mastercard Send, a global push payments service, partners like American Red Cross, are enabled to quickly and reliably facilitate aid funds to recipients in need.

Furthermore, Mastercard’s Fusion Center, which gathers and reports on daily acceptance data from areas such as ATMs, gas stations, grocery stores, hotels, restaurants, pharmacies and home improvement stores, is able to provide FEMA through the FS-ISAC, with local insight into which merchants are accepting card/digital payments and which are not. This information helps emergency responders directly support communities in crisis.

The challenges of this year remind us of the importance of coming together to help one another in times of crisis. Now more than ever, it is critical to identify how we can leverage our resources to aid during these times of uncontrollable environmental catastrophes.

Mastercard remains committed to use the strength of our network, technology, insights, and know-how to help the communities where we live and work solve social and humanitarian challenges. We remain committed to ensure that much needed relief and donations make their way to the people that need them most as quickly as possible.

Join us in supporting the Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/mastercard-pub.html/