COVID-19 Has Accelerated the Growth of Mastercard's Digital Payment Business
Mastercard (NYSE: MA) is a key player in the payment processing industry -- one of two companies that control the merchant acceptance "rails" for credit cards (the other, of course, is Visa).
In a real sense, it benefits directly from global economic growth and rising consumer spending. The more people spend -- and use credit cards in those transactions -- the more money Mastercard makes in transaction fees. So it wasn't a surprise that the credit card giants were significantly impacted by the recession that was set off by the COVID-19 pandemic. With people canceling travel plans en masse, avoiding shopping trips, and growing more concerned about their finances, there was a natural decline in the number of credit card transactions.
Source Fool.com