Payments processor Mastercard has today reported a better-than-expected profit for the third quarter, as customers encouraged by economic stability ramped up their spending.
The report rounds out a busy earnings week for payments firms, which are being closely scrutinised to assess the state of the health of the US consumer.
Although some have flagged a slowdown, spending levels remain elevated compared with last year as wage growth and hopes of a soft landing spur consumer confidence.
Trends so far also indicate that diversified businesses covering cards, mobile payments, peer-to-peer transactions and value-added services such as fraud protection have been more resilient.
Revenue from Mastercard's payment network jumped 11%. Value-added services and solutions fetched 19% more than last year and accounted for 37% of Mastercard's total revenue.
"These results reflect healthy consumer spending and ongoing solid demand for our value-added services and solutions," CEO Michael Miebach said.
Mastercard shares have gained 20% this year, outperforming rival Visa but trailing the benchmark S&P 500 index.
Spending in October held up. Cross-border volume, a gauge of travel demand that tracks spending on cards outside the country of their issue, climbed 18% compared with last year.
Switched volume, which measures the value of transactions processed on Mastercard's network, also grew 11%.
Excluding one-time costs, Mastercard earned $3.89 per share compared with expectations of $3.74, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.
Profit rose 2% to $3.3 billion for the three months ended September 30, while revenue grew 13% to $7.4 billion.
The company took a $190m restructuring charge in the quarter as it reduces headcount to streamline operations and concentrate resources on key areas.
