Illustration by Eddie Guy

MasterCard and Visa are highly reputable brands in the financial world – but what happens when card issuers misuse their power and ride on the giants’ reputation for their own gain? Apparently money cannot buy love, but money will buy them the license to issue cards bearing MasterCard and Visa’s emblem, ultimately sending huge profits along their way.

Hallmark Bank & Trust – Cause for Concern
Take the case of Hallmark Bank & Trust for example. With headquarters in the Turks and Caicos Islands, is affiliated with MasterCard and is well known industry player. They have a healthy relationship with MasterCard: Hallmark pays MasterCard in exchange for the right to use its name on cards issued by Hallmark (no relations with the greeting card company whatsoever!) and in return, MasterCard stand to gain a percentage of sales generated by Hallmark through these cards.

However, all is not fine and dandy with Hallmark’s financial and legal background. They have been slapped with a civil lawsuit in the year 2007 whereby the US Inland Revenue Service claimed that Hallmark-issued MasterCards have been used in elaborate money laundering schemes. Two US accounting firms have been charged with advising their clients to evade taxes by shipping money out of the country. Brian F.J. Trowbridge who is Hallmark’s president, used to be a director with Lake Shore Alternative Financial Asset. An affiliate with this company, namely Philip J. Baker, was accused of cheating US currency investors out of a whopping total of US$300 million. Trowbridge got away scot-free and wasn’t accused of criminal conduct. Recently, Greg Hurd, a Hallmark executive who was in charge of securing banking services for Lake Shore Asset Management, was involved in a civil fraud suit.

With all that was said and done, one wonders what would it take for MasterCard to really sit up and take notice of all these fishy happenings. When will they severe ties with this dubious company and its president before MasterCard’s reputation is tarnished even further?

Questionable Intent
MasterCard and Visa are two of the strongest names in the industry. They maintain that they employ stringent regulations and often check individual cards for misuse and have always taken care to avoid doing business with dubious banks. Most, if not all banks that are associated with both Visa and MasterCard are renowned with a loyal following of consumers who like and trust their quality of service. However, the downside is that they also strike bargains with shady financial execs and financial institutions with murky backgrounds.

One good example is the Global Bank of Commerce in Antigua. Perhaps unknown to Visa, Global advertises an “unembossed” Visa card via its website. This means that almost anyone can obtain a Visa card without putting his or her name on it. Is the public aware about this? Even more important, is Visa or the authorities going to do anything about this? When contacted, Global’s president Brian Stuart-Young said that they “hold detailed financial information for anyone who might get an unembossed card.” He also maintains that the cards’ limits are typically lower than most. Former IRS investigator A. Jack. Fishman begs to differ. He said such cards can still be used in money laundering or tax evasion. “Why else on earth would you need an anonymous credit or debit card, unless you were trying to move illicit funds?” he added.

How long these card issuers can survive before they get into hot soup remains to be seen. Till then, be aware that not all card issuers can keep you out of trouble just because they are associated with Visa or MasterCard.

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