Visa tops profit estimates on higher consumer spending

Visa Inc, the world’s largest payments network, topped analysts’ estimates for third-quarter profit on Wednesday, as an expanding U.S. economy encouraged more people to spend using their credit and debit cards.

Total payments volume rose 11 percent to $2.10 trillion, on a constant dollar basis, with the United States - its largest market - comprising about 44 percent of the total.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, rose in the most recent quarter in an economy that is expected to have grown at its fastest annualised rate in three years.

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Cross-border volumes - the value of transactions made outside the United States - saw a 11 percent growth in the quarter also on a constant currency basis.

Visa’s strong results reflect robust quarterly growth in credit card businesses of large U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc.

Visa's net income rose to $2.33 billion, or $1 per Class A share, in the third quarter ended June 30 from $2.06 billion, or 86 cents per Class A share, a year earlier. 

On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.20 per share, beating analysts’ average estimate of $1.09, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net operating revenue rose 15 percent to $5.24 billion.