MasterCard has launched a campaign to introduce Global Service, a new program that is now a standard component of all its card products.
MasterCard Global Service allows cardholders to gain access to all the regular services they have through their card from anywhere in the world.
Travelers can dial a 1-800 number and speak to an operator in their preferred language to obtain access to medical assistance, replace a lost or stolen card, or be connected to their bank branch if required.
Tracy Folkes Hanson, Canadian vice-president of marketing, MasterCard International, says the program, which has been in the works for two years, is in response to a consumer desire for peace of mind.
‘Cardholder research showed that people wanted access to their services and wanted that access to be very simple and direct.’
Global Service is being promoted in a television and radio campaign from MasterCard agency The Communique Group of Toronto. Advertising will run to the end of the year. Statement inserts will also be distributed through banks that offer MasterCard products.
The 30-sec. tv spot centres around the humorous miscommunication problems faced by a woman traveling in a country where English is not the first language.
Her attempts to explain to a bank’s employees that she has lost her MasterCard baffle them, and they initially mistake her for a robber.
As she bows out the door, thanking them for their help, the voiceover says, ‘You can skip the act, and leave the performing to us.’
