Stockholders' Equity Stockholders' Equity (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)			5 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			24 Months Ended		5 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	8 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	May 31, 2006 The MasterCard Foundation [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 The MasterCard Foundation [Member]	Apr. 28, 2011 Class A Common Stock [Member]	Sep. 30, 2010 Class A Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class A Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class A Common Stock [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Class A Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Class A Common Stock [Member]	May 31, 2006 Class A Common Stock [Member] The MasterCard Foundation [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Class A Common Stock [Member] 2012 repurchase plan [Member]	Jan. 25, 2013 Class A Common Stock [Member] 2012 repurchase plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class A Common Stock [Member] 2012 repurchase plan [Member]	Feb. 28, 2013 Class A Common Stock [Member] 2013 Share repurchase plan [Domain]	Jun. 30, 2010 Class B Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class B Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class B Common Stock [Member]	May 31, 2010 Class B Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class A and Class B Common Stock [Member]	May 31, 2010 Class M Stock [Member]
Preferred Stock, Shares Issued	0	0
Percentage of Class B shares conversion limitation																		10.00%			15.00%
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Conversion of Convertible Securities																	8,000,000
Common Stock, Shares Authorized							3,000,000,000	3,000,000,000		3,000,000,000								1,200,000,000	1,200,000,000			1,000,000
Common Stock, Par Value Per Share							$ 0.0001	$ 0.0001		$ 0.0001	$ 0.0001							$ 0.0001	$ 0.0001			$ 0.0001
Class B Common Stock Percentage Of Shares Less Than Aggregate Amount Outstanding Number Of Common Stock Shares																				15.00%
Issuance and donation of shares												13,500,000
Deferral Of Required Annual Qualified Charitable Disbursements			10 years
Additional Period Of Deferral Of Required Annual Qualified Charitable Disbursements				15 years
Required Disbursement by charitable entity			3.50%
Authorized plan to repurchase stock, maximum repurchase amount						$ 1,000,000,000	$ 3,500,000,000						$ 1,500,000,000			$ 2,000,000,000
Incremental common stock authorized to repurchase					1,000,000,000
Common stock repurchased during period, shares														2,300,000
Value of common stock repurchased during period														$ 1,100,000,000
Treasury Stock Acquired, Average Cost Per Share							$ 430.71	$ 258.92	[1]	$ 341.04				$ 467.44	$ 460.22
Preferred Stock, Shares Outstanding	0	0

[1] The initial authorization in September 2010 for $1 billion was amended in April 2011 to increase the authorization to $2 billion.