Payment processing giant Visa (NYSE: V) recently reported its earnings, and the numbers were strong. Revenue increased 12% year-over-year despite the difficult economic climate, and adjusted earnings grew by 21%.

However, much of the company's earnings report is important to all investors, not just those who own Visa stock. Along with its quarterly results, Visa shares valuable data on payment trends, and these can give investors clues about how businesses in all sectors of the economy might be heading. With that in mind, here are some of the key highlights and what they could mean for your portfolio.

The bad news is that growth in consumer spending has certainly slowed down. According to Visa's latest data, U.S. payment volume on debit and credit cards grew by more than 20% year-over-year in February 2022, but by December, the growth rate had slowed to less than 10%. Plus, keep in mind that the inflation rate in December was 6.5% according to CPI data. So, in real terms, spending grew by a low single-digit percentage. On a constant-currency basis, payment volume in the quarter increased by 7% year-over-year on Visa's network, roughly keeping pace with inflation.

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Source Fool.com