Visa vs mastercard stock price

Before the end of , perhaps while loading their minivans and Malibus with Christmas presents, Americans are expected to blow past a major milestone. That high-water mark is actually an encouraging sign of economic recovery.

The consumer is back, baby! Since the Great Recession, Visa , MasterCard, American Express , and Discover have become increasingly efficient profit machines.

The companies can credit their success to a combination of smart adaptation and good timing. Technological change also gave card companies a tailwind, as e-commerce and faster processing systems enticed consumers to choose plastic over cash and checks. And while many Silicon Valley seers thought mobile-payment platforms like PayPal pypl and Apple Pay aapl would threaten the card oligopoly, the old guard has largely co-opted the upstarts, making their own services compatible with the new generation of apps.

Better Buy: Visa Inc. vs. MasterCard -- The Motley Fool

MasterCard and Visa have less to fear from tough economic times. MasterCard ma has expanded aggressively overseas, where credit card adoption is growing much faster than in the U.

American Express and Discover can seem downright stodgy by comparison. They concentrate primarily on issuing cards, which ties their profitability more closely to consumer spending habits.

For more on credit cards, watch this Fortune video: Its customers spend two to three times as much per account as the average card user, which makes them desirable to merchants—enabling AmEx to charge higher-than-average transaction fees.

AmEx has reassured investors by ramping up its rewards programs to keep such gold-mine customers from defecting. The biggest bargain among the Big Four may be the one with the most traditional business model.

Discover Financial Services dfs focuses almost exclusively on credit cards and lending. It has rigorously avoided risky borrowers: Its stock trades at 9. A version of this article appears in the December 1, issue of Fortune with the headline "Play Your Cards Right.

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A Look at MasterCard vs. Visa (MA, V) | Investopedia

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Visa Stock Vs. Mastercard Stock - Which Should You Buy? | InvestorPlace

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