Visa’s profits jump as credit, debit card spending recovers
Profits at payments giant Visa Inc. jumped in its most-recent quarter, driven by consumers and businesses getting back to spending on their credit and debit cards after the pandemic
NEW YORK — Profits at payments giant Visa Inc. jumped in its most-recent quarter, driven by consumers and businesses getting back to spending on their credit and debit cards after the pandemic.
The San Francisco-based company said Tuesday that it earned $3.58 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter that ended Sept. 30, or $1.65 a share. That’s was up from a profit of $2.14 billion, or 97 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Excluding one-time adjustments, Visa earned $1.62 a share, up 42% from a year earlier. Analysts had been expected $1.55 a share, according to FactSet.
Visa’s results last year were hampered the pandemic-induced global slowdown in travel and economic activity, which cut the amount of money traveling on Visa’s credit and debit card networks. As economies worldwide have reopened, there’s been a tick up in payment volume as well, which goes straight into Visa’s bottom line.
Consumers and businesses spent $2.783 trillion on Visa’s network in the latest quarter, up 17% adjusted for currency fluctuations. Visa saw double-digit growth on both Visa-branded credit cards, as well as debit cards.
Visa earns a fee on each transaction that uses their payment network. The fee varies depending on whether it’s a debit card transaction or what type of credit card is used.
Visa also reported its full-year results. The company earned $12.93 billion on an adjusted basis, up 16% from its previous fiscal year. Total revenues last year were $24.11 billion.
