Cirrus (interbank network)

Cirrus

Operating area	Worldwide (except Russia)
ATMs	2,000,000+
Founded	1982 (1982)
Owner	Mastercard

Cirrus is a worldwide interbank network that provides cash to Mastercard cardholders. As a subsidiary of Mastercard, it connects all Mastercard's credit, debit, and prepaid cards, as well as ATM cards issued by various banks worldwide bearing the Mastercard/Maestro logo.

Founded in 1982, prior to its acquisition by Mastercard in 1987, Cirrus System, LLC was owned by Bank of Montreal, BayBanks Inc., First Interstate Bancorp, Mellon Bank, NBD Bancorp Inc., and Norwest Corp.

By default, Mastercard and Maestro cards are linked to the Cirrus network, but very often all three logotypes will be shown. Canadian, American and Saudi Arabian ATMs use this network alongside their local networks, and many banks have adopted Cirrus as their international interbank network alongside either a local one, the rival Plus ATM network owned by Visa, or both. In countries such as India and Bangladesh, the Cirrus network also serves as a local interbank network as well as an international one.

Logo history

Cirrus logo used from 1982 until 1992

Cirrus logo used from 1992 until 1996

Cirrus logo used from 1996 until July 14, 2016

The first logo, advertised from 1982 until 1992, was then changed to match those representing the other subsidiaries of Mastercard, which acquired Cirrus in 1987. The only exception is the colour pattern change. This can also be noticed through the re-branding in 2016, since all the logos of Mastercard, Maestro and Cirrus have been equally modified.

Further reading

• Gifford, David; Spector, Alfred (August 1985). "The Cirrus Banking Network" (PDF). Communications of the ACM. 28 (8). Association for Computing Machinery: 798–807. doi:10.1145/4021.4022. S2CID 5916192. Retrieved October 4, 2014.

External links

• Mastercard Profile
• Mastercard ATM Locator