PURCHASE, N.Y. – MasterCard this morning reported a 23.6% surge in first quarter profits, as the number and dollar amount of debit transactions continued to lead its growth.
The card giant reported first quarter profit of $562 million, as revenues advanced by 14.8% to $1.5 billion.
As it has for the past few years, debit transactions continued to fuel the card company, with a 17.4% increase in the value of debit transactions for the first quarter and an 18.6% growth in the number of debit transactions.
The news comes as MasterCard and Visa and leading the fight to stop the Federal Reserve from passing a rule that would cap the fees MasterCard and Visa card issuers are allowed to charge for debit transactions.
“We had a strong start to 2011 despite the hardships experienced by many consumers and businesses due to natural disasters and political turmoil in several markets. Our solid volume and processed transaction growth helped to drive a double-digit revenue increase. This growth is reflective of the strong fundamentals and globality of our business,” said Ajay Banga, MasterCard president and chief executive officer.
“We continue to launch new products, enter new geographies and open new acceptance channels. We launched Travelex Cash Passport in Brazil and South Africa and recently completed our acquisition of the Card Program Management assets of Travelex, allowing us to further build our global prepaid presence. During the quarter, we also signed a long-term debit renewal with Poste Italiane, one of our largest debit issuers in Europe.”
Visa is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings tomorrow.
