MasterCard Incorporated, the No.2 credit and debit card network, reported a quarterly profit that topped Wall Street estimates as more people across the globe opted to use cards instead of cash.
Higher consumer spending in the United States also helped to boost MasterCard’s third-quarter profit, according to Reuters. US consumer spending spiked in the quarter as people felt more confident about their job prospects.
Cardholders made $676bn of purchases worldwide in the quarter on a local currency basis, up 12 per cent.
In the United States, purchase volume grew 7.4 per cent, though this was below the growth of 13.7 per cent in the year-earlier period.
MasterCard’s customers, including banks and prepaid card companies across the world, had issued 1.9 billion of the company’s cards as of September 30.
The company said net income rose eight per cent to $772m, or $6.17 per share, from $717m, or $5.63 per share, a year earlier.
Analysts on average were expecting the company to earn $5.92 per share, excluding one-time items, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue rose five per cent to $1.92bn, but fell short of the $1.94bn analysts had expected.
Shares of the company, which has a market value of about $56bn, were up 1.4 per cent at $459.46 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning.
MasterCard’s results bode well for top payment network Visa Incorporated, which is scheduled to report later in the day.
Visa shares were up one per cent at $139.73.
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MasterCard profit rises as consumers feel more confident