A Strong Economy Lifts Mastercard’s Transaction Volumes As Well As Its Top and Bottom Lines

Transactions, revenues and net income at Mastercard Inc. all increased by double digits in the third quarter ending Sept. 30 as consumer and business spending remained strong despite new tariffs and reports that consumers are feeling increasingly nervous about the economy.

“We continued to see healthy consumer and business spending in the quarter, the macro economic environment [is] still generally supportive,” Mastercard chief executive Michael Miebach told analysts Thursday during a company conference call. “Inflation levels have remained fairly steady and labor markets remain well balanced.”

The company’s key metrics all looked healthy. Switched transactions, the company’s core network business, rose 10% year-over-year to nearly 45.4 billion. Gross dollar volume grew 9% on a local-currency basis to $2.7 trillion, and cross-border volumes, also on a local-currency basis, saw a 15% lift. U.S. credit purchase transactions rose 6.6%, as did U.S. debit purchase transactions, with dollar volumes up 6.7% and 7.3%, respectively.

Net revenues grew 15% on a currency-neutral basis to $8.6 billion, including a 22% jump from services. Net income came in at $3.93 billion, up 20% from $3.26 billion a year earlier.

The only sour note: Capital One Financial Corp.’s switch of its big debit card portfolio from the Mastercard network to the Discover network in the wake of Cap One’s $35-billion acquisition in May of Discover Financial Services. Mastercard chief financial officer Sachin Mehra on the call said the transition away from Mastercard is now under way and will continue into 2026, but he would not quantify the anticipated revenue hit. He said Mastercard has earlier indicated the loss will not “be material” in 2025 and that it will be partially offset by certain contractual obligations.

Apart from that, Mastercard expects continued growth from the ongoing conversion of payments worldwide to electronic means, which will drive transaction volumes, and the addition of new services. Such services include its new offerings in agentic-commerce. Miebach noted  Mastercard is well positioned to out-compete local payment networks in many parts of the world in that emerging technology.