WSJ: V/MC Ready to Charge Ahead

The Wall Street Journal says that Visa and MasterCard, who report results on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, are basically unaffected by the nationwide credit crunch based on the fact that consumers have switched to debit anyway...



For two companies battered by a nationwide credit crunch and consumer-spending squeeze, Visa and MasterCard have emerged surprisingly well.

Visa is expected to show earnings of 91 cents a share for the final three months of 2009, its fiscal first quarter, when the credit-card company reports Wednesday. That compares with 78 cents a year earlier. Revenue is expected to be $1.9 billion, up about 10% from the prior year, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.



Rival MasterCard will follow on Thursday, with expected fourth-quarter earnings of $2.80 a share, compared with $1.87 a year earlier, and revenue of about $1.3 billion, up 6%.

The improvements are due partly to cost-cutting and partly to consumers' relentless move toward spending with plastic, particularly debit cards, instead of cash and checks.



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