MasterCard Worldwide on Aug. 3 reported double-digit growth in worldwide purchase volume and cross-border spending for the second quarter ended June 30.
MasterCard released its card-performance data in a U.S. Securities and Exchange filing tied to reported earnings for the quarter (
In the U.S., MasterCard credit and debit card activity was flat during the quarter (
Outside the U.S., credit and charge card purchase volume totaled $249 billion, up 14.7% from $217 billion during the same period last year, while purchase transactions outside the U.S. totaled 3.1 billion, up 10.7% from 2.8 billion.
MasterCard issuers had 172 million credit and charge cards on issue in the U.S. at the end of June, down 17.3% from 208 million a year earlier. Outside the U.S., issuers had 503 million cards on issue, up 1.6% from 495 million.
Debit card sales outside the U.S. totaled $40 billion, up 21.2% from $33 billion, while debit cardholders initiated 758 million purchases, up 29.1% from 587 million.
Regionally, total purchase volume in Europe was $143 billion, up 9.2% from $131 billion. Cardholders in the region initiated 1.9 billion purchases, up 11.8% from 1.7 billion.
Purchase volume in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa region totaled $94 billion, up 22.1% from $77 billion. Cardholders in the region initiated 1.2 billion purchases, up 20% from 1 billion.
Purchase volume in Latin America totaled $29 billion, up 26.1% from $23 billion. Purchase transactions in the region totaled 528 million, up 14.8% from 460 million.
Total purchase volume in Canada was $24 billion, up 20% from $20 billion. Cardholders in Canada initiated 268 million purchases, up 5.1% from 255 million.
Total global purchase volume (credit, charge and debit cards plus cash volume) for the second quarter was $657 billion, up 9.9% from $598 billion.
“Cross-border volume grew 15.2%, the strongest it has been since the third quarter of 2008,” Martina Hund-Mejean, MasterCard chief financial officer, told analysts during the company’s earnings conference call on Aug. 3.
Overall, “we saw double-digit growth in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa region, primarily driven by activity in Australia, China and Korea, Hund-Mejean said. MasterCard also saw double-digit cross-border volume growth in Europe and in Latin America, she noted.
As a global company, “we continue to see the non-U.S. markets becoming a bigger contributor to our businesses,” Ajay Banga, MasterCard president and CEO, said during the call.
“The international markets account for 55% of our total revenue, up from about 50% just two or three years ago. And in recent quarters, our volume growth outside the U.S. outpaced growth inside the U.S.,” Banga said.
In the U.S., “conflicting signals make it difficult to determine if we have moved to a period of real economic recovery,” he said.
What do you think about this? Send us your feedback.
