Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. saw purchase volumes on their cards climb less than expected in the final three months of the year, a sign that historic levels of inflation have begun to put a damper on consumer spending.
Spending on Visa’s cards climbed 1.7 per cent to US$3.01 trillion in the company’s fiscal first quarter, missing the US$3.16 trillion average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. At Mastercard, volumes jumped 11 per cent to US$1.73 trillion, also missing estimates.
So far, both companies have said inflation hasn’t weighed on consumers’ overall spending patterns. Instead, card customers have shifted their spending to lower-cost items or generic brands. The two companies have said they continue to get a boost from spending on travel and dining out with pandemic-related restrictions easing globally.
“As we look at the broader economy, we see the continued recovery of cross-border travel, with volumes up 59 per cent versus a year ago and we’re encouraged by Asia opening up further,” Mastercard Chief Executive Officer Michael Miebach said in a statement announcing his company’s fourth-quarter results earlier Thursday.
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