Card Networks Report Spending Growth, Stablecoin Push

Visa, Mastercard and American Express reported continued consumer spending growth while expanding early agentic payments and stablecoin products.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Credit Cards

Isometric editorial illustration of stacked plain metal payment tokens flowing into a tokenized card chip on a matte counter. — Visa, Mastercard and American Express reported continued consumer spending growth in late-October earnings while expanding stablecoin and agentic payment products. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Visa, Mastercard and American Express reported continued consumer spending growth in quarterly earnings released late October. The companies also described early deployment of agentic payments and stablecoin products, though Visa and Mastercard acknowledged agentic transaction volumes remain small.

Why it matters

Banks have grown concerned that deposits could move to competitors offering stablecoin accounts, which management tied to the push into stablecoin offerings. For U.S. cardholders, continued credit and debit volume growth shows steady consumer spending even as new payment rails are still being built out.

Visa's U.S. credit volume rose 11% and debit volume rose 9% in its fiscal fourth quarter, while Mastercard's U.S. credit volume grew 10% and debit 1%, including the Capital One debit migration. Visa's stablecoin settlement run rate exceeded $25 billion annualized, but the companies have not said how much of that flow is yet permanent.

The players

Visa

Visa is a global payment network that operates one of the largest card-payment systems in the world.

Mastercard

Mastercard is a global payments technology company that operates a major card network and has expanded into stablecoin settlement through its BVNK acquisition.

American Express

American Express is a financial services company known for its charge and credit card products and its premium cardholder base.

The details

Visa said more than 60% of its eCommerce transactions are now tokenized and that its Visa Direct stablecoin prefunding service has entered commercial production with Inyo Global as its first live partner. Mastercard's Global Money Platform, built with BVNK after the acquisition closed in August, and its Move integration let businesses pay stablecoin balances into recipients' local bank accounts.

Oct. 23: American Express released third-quarter earnings results.
Oct. 27: Visa released fiscal fourth-quarter earnings results.
Oct. 29: Mastercard released third-quarter earnings results.
August: Mastercard's BVNK acquisition closed.

The Tech Race

Visa Direct and Mastercard Move, the networks' existing cross-border payout rails, are being extended with stablecoin settlement as both companies race to keep payment flows from shifting to rivals. Visa's prefunding service and Mastercard's Global Money Platform represent the networks' attempt to absorb stablecoin activity before it moves elsewhere.

Card networks' steady U.S. credit and debit volume growth points to continued consumer spending that supports their revenue. Shoppers may see new payment options as stablecoin and agentic products expand, though those products remain early in rollout.

The takeaway

Consumers should expect card networks to keep expanding into stablecoin and agentic payments, but adoption remains early. Watching how merchants and issuers adopt these tools will show whether the new rails change everyday checkout.