PURCHASE, N.Y. – MasterCard reported a 15% rise in third quarter earnings yesterday, fueled by increased overseas spending on its cards.
The company recorded net income of $518 million, compared with $452 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose 5% for the third quarter to $1.43 billion.
The MasterCard results came a week after Visa reported a 51% surge in third quarter earnings.
MasterCard said purchases on credit cards in the U.S. dipped 0.7% in the third quarter, while domestic debit card purchases dropped 5%.
Declining credit card sales in the U.S. were offset by a surge in spending with both types of cards worldwide. Credit and charge card purchases jumped 9% globally and debit card use rose 29%.
Worldwide spending on MasterCard and Maestro-branded cards climbed 7.9%.
For the first three quarters of the year MasterCard reported an 8% rise in revenues and a 22% increase in net income to $1.4 billion.
