PURCHASE, N.Y. – MasterCard said yesterday its fourth-quarter profit rose 23% as the card company raised its fees to offset fading credit card use in the U.S.
The performance was strong but not as strong as that for Visa, which on Wednesday reported a 33% surge in profits for the same period. The two card companies are the only stocks widely owned by credit unions.
Use of MasterCards dropped almost 8% in the U.S. while rising about 9% in the rest of the world. There was a 1% decline in the number of MasterCards in use worldwide.
However, the company reported a 10% rise in use of its debit cards in the U.S. and a 16% rise worldwide.
MasterCard said its fourth-quarter revenues rose by 23% to $294 million. Revenues for the full fiscal year rose 6% to $1.3 billion. The big revenue gains reflect a 5% percent increase in its fees.
For all of 2009, MasterCard posted a profit of $1.46 billion, versus a loss of $253.9 million, for 2008, which was due to payouts for the company’s antitrust settlements with American Express and Discover.
