SAN FRANCISCO – Cards giant Visa reported a 47% jump in fiscal second quarter earnings yesterday to $1.29 billion, fueled by a big boost in consumer spending.
First quarter revenue rose 15% to $2.6 billion.
Greater card usage is good news for credit unions, who earn interchange revenue every time their members use their Visa card, and because Visa and MasterCard are the only two common stocks credit unions are permitted to own.
Visa said U.S. cardholders charged 12% more on their Visa cards for the quarter. Debit card use grew by only 4%, however, the slowest growth in a year.
“Our strong financial performance this quarter was fueled by continued growth of U.S. credit products, strong cross-border spending and expansion of Visa’s core business in international markets,” said Joseph Saunders, CEO of Visa. “Visa’s business continues to expand at a healthy pace.”
Visa adjusted the network’s fee structure to defend its leading market share after new U.S. rules on debit card transactions took effect in October. The firm, which got 56% of its revenue from the U.S. in 2011, has said it intends to generate more than half from abroad by 2015.
For the first six months of its fiscal year Visa reported a 14% rise in revenues to $5.1 billion, and a 32% surge in net income to $2.3 billion.
