Mastercard Incorporated (MA)

Mastercard reported on 30 July that second-quarter 2026 net revenue rose 14 percent to $9.3 billion, and net income rose 19 percent to $4.4 billion 1. Value-added services and solutions, its fraud, data and consulting business, grew 20 percent, faster than the payment network's 10 percent 1. Cross-border volume, card spending that crosses a border, grew 12 percent 1.

Chief executive Michael Miebach credited "new partnerships in Mexico and the UAE" and what he called a "market-first Agentic Payment capability", payments that AI agents make for a shopper 1. In early August Mastercard completed its purchase of BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure company agreed in March for $1.5 billion plus up to $300 million tied to performance 526. On 3 August 2026 Ling Hai also became finance chief, succeeding Sachin Mehra 8.

The next look at the business comes on 29 October, when the company releases third-quarter results 7. A federal court has scheduled the final approval hearing on the revised U.S. merchant rules settlement for November 2026 2. Under that deal Visa and Mastercard cut interchange fees by 0.1 percentage points for five years and cap standard consumer rates at 1.25 percent 13.

Mastercard's operating company, Mastercard International Incorporated, was formed in November 1966 as a non-stock membership corporation 3. The holding company, Mastercard Incorporated, was incorporated in Delaware in May 2001, and its Class A shares were first sold to the public in May 2006 32. Mastercard does not issue cards or lend money; it runs the network that authorizes, clears and settles payments between the cardholder's bank and the merchant's bank 3.

The pandemic brought the one recent year of decline: in 2020 net revenue fell 9 percent to $15.3 billion, and net income fell 21 percent to $6.4 billion 10. The blow fell on spending across borders, which dropped 29 percent, while gross dollar volume, the total spent on its cards, was flat 10. That year it bought Finicity, a North American provider of real-time access to financial data 10.

Revenue came back fast: it rose 23 percent in 2021, with 2 percentage points from acquisitions 11. In 2022 it rose another 18 percent to $22.2 billion, even though Mastercard suspended its business operations in Russia in March 2022 11. Russia had brought in about 4 percent of net revenue in 2021, and in 2022 Mastercard also bought Dynamic Yield, which uses AI to personalize product offers 11.

Net revenue reached $25.1 billion in 2023 and $28.2 billion in 2024, a 12 percent rise in the second year 12. In December 2024 Mastercard bought Recorded Future, a threat intelligence company, for $2.7 billion in cash 12. Legal charges stayed heavy, at $680 million in 2024, mostly for settling a U.K. consumer class action and claims from U.K. merchants 12.

In 2025 net revenue rose 16 percent to $32.8 billion, and net income rose 16 percent to $15.0 billion 3. The payment network grew 12 percent on more domestic and cross-border spending, while services grew 23 percent, 3 points of it from the businesses bought in 2024 3. Mastercard returned $14.5 billion to shareholders, $11.7 billion of it through buybacks, and launched Agent Pay, a framework for payments made by AI agents 3.

In November 2025 Mastercard and Visa signed a revised settlement with the U.S. merchants suing over card rules, after a judge had rejected the 2024 version 213. The same month Mastercard renewed its $8 billion revolving credit line, now running to November 2030 17. In December 2025 it completed a $300 million minority investment in the cross-border business of Corpay, a corporate payments company 15.

In the first half of 2026 Mastercard booked a $202 million restructuring charge, whose savings the company says are meant to fund reinvestment in long-term growth 2. It agreed in March to buy BVNK and reshuffled its leaders, putting stablecoin, agentic and core card payments together under chief product officer Jorn Lambert 28.

The payment network

The payment network is the switch: it authorizes, clears and settles card payments in more than 150 currencies and more than 220 countries and territories 3. It brought in $19.5 billion in 2025, about 59 percent of net revenue (computed), up 12 percent 3. That is after $20.5 billion of rebates and incentives paid to banks and others to win and keep card programs, up 16 percent 3.

Cards carrying its brands moved $10.6 trillion in 2025, up 9 percent, across 175.5 billion switched transactions 39. Debit and prepaid cards made up 50 percent of that volume, consumer credit 37 percent and commercial cards 13 percent 3. Customers had issued 3.7 billion Mastercard and Maestro cards by 30 June 2026 1.

Mastercard does not issue cards, extend credit or set what a merchant's bank charges a store; the banks keep those customer relationships 3. In the second quarter of 2026 gross dollar volume rose 8 percent to $2.9 trillion and switched transactions rose 9 percent 1.

Value-added services and solutions

Services are the faster-growing half: $13.3 billion in 2025, about 41 percent of net revenue (computed), up 23 percent 3. They include fraud and cyber security tools, marketing and loyalty programs, data analytics and consulting, digital checkout and authentication, processing and payment gateways, and open finance 3.

About 40 percent of all Mastercard transactions were tokenized in 2025, meaning the card number is replaced by a secure stand-in 3. Recorded Future's threat data feeds Mastercard Threat Intelligence, launched in 2025, and Commerce Media sells advertising targeted with Mastercard's spending insights 3. In the second quarter of 2026 services grew 20 percent, led by security, marketing, authentication, data products and pricing 1.

Mastercard Move, stablecoins and AI agents

Mastercard Move is its set of money transfer services, for sending money to people from other people, businesses or governments 3. In 2025 it embedded stablecoins, digital tokens tied to a currency, into Move, and about 130 crypto co-brand card programs let holders spend crypto balances on its network 3. BVNK, agreed in March 2026, builds the systems that let businesses hold, move and convert value across ordinary and digital currencies 52.

Agent Pay is a framework for payments made by AI agents, built on its tokens, including Agentic Tokens 3. All U.S. Mastercard cardholders were enabled in 2025, with a global launch scheduled for early 2026 3.

Sites, people and regions

Mastercard owns its headquarters in Purchase, New York, and its main technology and operations center in O'Fallon, Missouri 3. It employed about 39,800 people at the end of 2025, some 70 percent outside the U.S. in more than 90 countries, plus about 6,000 contingent workers 3. Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa brought in $18.7 billion of 2025 revenue and the Americas $14.0 billion 3.

Who runs it

Michael Miebach is chief executive 1. On 3 August 2026 Ling Hai, who ran Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, became finance chief, and Sachin Mehra moved to a new role as chief business officer 8. Linda Kirkpatrick became chief services officer and Dimi Dosis took over commercial and new payment flows, while Vice Chair Tim Murphy was due to retire in October 8.

Rivals

Mastercard names Visa, American Express, JCB, China UnionPay and Discover as rival networks 3. It also competes with local debit networks, real-time systems such as Brazil's PIX, FedNow and India's UPI, digital wallets and stablecoins 3. Visa and Mastercard together control about 77 percent of the U.S. credit card market, according to the Nilson Report as cited by Payments Dive 14.

Capital One, which completed its purchase of Discover in May 2025, began moving cards to the Discover network with its debit portfolio of roughly 25 million cards 16. New customers now get some core Capital One credit cards on Discover's rails, while its business cards, including Spark and Venture X Business, remain on Mastercard 16.

Courts and regulators

Merchant lawsuits over interchange, the fee a store's bank pays the cardholder's bank on each card sale, began in 2005 2. Mastercard's provision for the U.S. cases fell to $149 million at 30 June 2026 from $637 million at the end of 2025, as it paid settlements 2. Block and Intuit, which opted out of the class deal, seek more than $5 billion in damages 2.

In the U.K. and Europe over £0.5 billion of merchant claims remain, and a separate collective claim over commercial cards exceeds £1 billion 2. Mastercard won permission to appeal a 2025 U.K. liability ruling, and the appeal hearing is scheduled for February 2027 2. A Portuguese consumer action seeks about €0.4 billion, with a trial scheduled for October 2026 2.

The European Commission is examining Mastercard's practices on network fees charged to acquirers, the merchants' banks 2. In Washington, the Credit Card Competition Act, a bill meant to give Visa and Mastercard more competition, was reintroduced in January after President Trump backed it 14. An attempt to attach it to a housing bill failed in March 14.

The umbrella, in words

Mastercard's brands are Mastercard, Maestro and Cirrus 3. Its main operating company is Mastercard International Incorporated, and Exhibit 21 lists only the significant subsidiaries, among them Mastercard Europe SA in Belgium and Mastercard Asia/Pacific in Singapore 34. Vocalink, its real-time account payments platform in the U.K., is overseen by the Bank of England 3.

Mastercard owns all of Recorded Future, bought in December 2024 for $2.7 billion, and all of BVNK, agreed in March 2026 for $1.5 billion 32. It invested $300 million for a stake of about 2.3 percent in Corpay's cross-border business, completed in December 2025 15.

Class A shares carry the votes; Class B shares, held by customers, carry none and make up about 0.7 percent of the equity 3. The largest Class A holders at 21 April 2026 were Vanguard with 8.6 percent, BlackRock with 7.7 percent and Mastercard Foundation's asset manager with 7.4 percent 9. The Foundation began selling in March 2024 under a seven-year plan to diversify, while committing to remain a long-term holder 3.

Beyond its two owned sites in New York and Missouri, Mastercard owns or leases offices and operations centers in the U.S. and around the world 3.

Mastercard will release third-quarter 2026 results on Thursday, 29 October, with a conference call at 9:00 in the morning, Eastern Time 7. It will be the first full quarter reported under the new finance chief, Ling Hai, and the first to include BVNK 785.

The court overseeing the U.S. merchant cases has scheduled the final approval hearing on the revised rules settlement for November 2026 2. If approved, the deal cuts interchange by 0.1 percentage points for five years and caps standard consumer rates at 1.25 percent, PYMNTS reported 13. The National Association of Convenience Stores and the National Retail Federation filed complaints opposing it 13.

Other dates on file are the Portuguese consumer trial in October 2026, the U.K. appeal hearing in February 2027 and more U.K. liability and damages trials in October 2027 2. The claims of Block and Intuit move through expert reports and summary judgment briefing over 2026 2.

The board approved a $14.0 billion buyback program in December 2025, to take effect once the 2024 program is complete 3. As of 27 July 2026, $7.8 billion remained under approved programs 1. The company says it intends to keep paying a quarterly cash dividend, at the board's discretion 3.

Mastercard scheduled the global launch of Agent Pay for early 2026, after enabling all U.S. cardholders in 2025 3. With BVNK, the company says it aims to help banks, fintechs and companies scale stablecoin uses from cross-border business payments and payouts to settlement and treasury 5. Its stated priorities remain consumer payments, commercial and new payment flows, and services 3.

Its $8 billion revolving credit line runs to November 2030 17. In Washington, a backer of the Credit Card Competition Act told Payments Dive that its sponsors are "open to any opportunity to get a vote" 14.