Visa vs Mastercard Statistics 2026
By Axis Intelligence Research
Co-author: Sarah Davis | Last updated: October 27, 2026 | License: CC BY 4.0
Visa processed 62.27% of the $24.63 trillion in purchase volume that ran on Visa and Mastercard cards in the twelve months to June 30, 2026, according to Axis Intelligence Research’s calendar-aligned analysis of both companies’ filings. Mastercard earned 30.1% more net revenue per dollar of that volume, which is why Visa’s 1.65x volume lead shrinks to 1.27x in revenue.
Quick Answer: Is Visa Bigger Than Mastercard in 2026?
Yes. On the same calendar window, Visa moved $15.34 trillion in payments volume against Mastercard’s $9.29 trillion in purchase volume, a 62.27% to 37.73% split, according to Axis Intelligence Research. In the United States Visa’s share reached 70.96% in the April–June 2026 quarter. Mastercard earns more per dollar: 37.75 basis points of net revenue versus Visa’s 29.01. For travelers, Visa’s exchange rates were the cheaper of the two in all six currencies Axis Intelligence Research tested on October 26, 2026.
Key Findings
- Axis Intelligence Research finds Visa held 62.27% of combined Visa and Mastercard purchase volume worldwide in the twelve months ended June 30, 2026: $15.337 trillion against $9.293 trillion.
- Axis Intelligence Research finds Visa’s U.S. share of combined volume rose from 70.28% in the quarter ended June 30, 2025 to 70.96% a year later, while its share outside the U.S. slipped from 56.37% to 56.02%.
- Axis Intelligence Research calculates that Mastercard earned 37.75 basis points of net revenue per dollar of purchase volume over the twelve months to June 2026, against 29.01 basis points for Visa, a 30.1% yield premium.
- The Visa–Mastercard Lead Multiple (VMLM), an Axis Intelligence Research index of four like-for-like ratios, read 1.561 for the twelve months to June 30, 2026, meaning Visa is about 1.56 times Mastercard’s size across volume, transactions and revenue.
- In an Axis Intelligence Research snapshot of both networks’ official currency converters for October 26, 2026, Mastercard’s exchange rate cost a U.S. dollar cardholder more than Visa’s in all six currencies tested, by 0.19% to 0.55%, before any bank fee.
Why Most Visa vs Mastercard Comparisons Are Off by a Quarter
Visa’s fiscal year ends September 30. Mastercard’s ends December 31. Almost every published head-to-head, including the comparison table on our own Visa statistics page, sets Visa’s fiscal year against Mastercard’s calendar year, so the two columns cover windows that overlap by only nine months.
Axis Intelligence Research rebuilt both companies on calendar quarters instead. Visa publishes quarter-by-quarter volume in its Operational Performance Data for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. Mastercard publishes the same series in the operating performance tables of its second-quarter 2026 earnings release. Matching the two on April–June 2026, and on the four quarters to June 30, 2026, removes the timing gap entirely.
One calibration check holds. Summing Visa’s U.S. payments volume for the four quarters of calendar 2025 gives $7.029 trillion; Mastercard’s 2025 U.S. purchase volume was $2.958 trillion. Visa’s share comes out at 70.38%, the same figure already published on our Visa page, now reproduced from the filings rather than a single snapshot.
Sarah Davis: Aligning the calendar sounds pedantic until you notice what it removes. A fiscal-year mismatch hides a full quarter of holiday volume on one side of the table. Once both columns cover the same 90 days, the share numbers stop drifting with the reporting calendar and start moving with the business.
Visa vs Mastercard Market Share: The Calendar-Aligned Numbers
Visa’s worldwide share of combined Visa and Mastercard purchase volume has held between 62.07% and 62.68% for six straight quarters. The headline is stable; the pieces underneath it are not.
Quarterly share of combined purchase volume, Q1 2025 to Q2 2026
| Quarter ended | Visa payments volume | Mastercard purchase volume | Visa share, worldwide | Visa share, U.S. | Visa share, outside U.S. | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 2025 | $3,346B | $1,992B | 62.68% | 70.32% | 56.66% | Visa Q2 FY26 OPD; Mastercard Q1 2026 release |
| Jun 30, 2025 | $3,619B | $2,182B | 62.39% | 70.28% | 56.37% | Visa Q3 FY26 OPD; Mastercard Q2 2026 release |
| Sep 30, 2025 | $3,733B | $2,281B* | 62.07% | 70.23% | 56.14% | Visa Q3 FY26 OPD; Mastercard 2025 releases |
| Dec 31, 2025 | $3,868B | $2,344B | 62.27% | 70.66% | 56.24% | Visa Q3 FY26 OPD; Mastercard Q4 2025 release |
| Mar 31, 2026 | $3,728B | $2,251B | 62.35% | 70.95% | 56.10% | Visa Q3 FY26 OPD; Mastercard Q1 2026 release |
| Jun 30, 2026 | $4,007B | $2,417B | 62.38% | 70.96% | 56.02% | Visa Q3 FY26 OPD; Mastercard Q2 2026 release |
Mastercard does not publish a standalone third-quarter table in its year-end release; Axis Intelligence Research derived it as full-year 2025 minus the first half minus the fourth quarter. Shares are Axis Intelligence Research calculations.
Twelve months ended June 30, 2026
| Measure | Visa | Mastercard | Visa share of combined | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase / payments volume, worldwide | $15,337B | $9,293B | 62.27% | Visa Q3 FY26 OPD; Mastercard releases (Axis calculation) |
| Purchase / payments volume, U.S. | $7,338B | $3,041B | 70.70% | Same |
| Purchase / payments volume, outside U.S. | $7,999B | $6,252B | 56.13% | Same |
| Purchase / payments transactions | 332.4B | 219.0B | 60.28% | Same |
| Net revenue | $44,488M | $35,083M | 55.91% | Visa and Mastercard earnings releases (Axis calculation) |
Visa’s volume figure excludes co-badged volume in Europe; Mastercard’s includes Mastercard-branded transactions it does not switch. Both differences are disclosed in the companies’ footnotes and are discussed in the methodology.
Sarah Davis: Read the last row before the first. Visa holds 62% of the volume and 56% of the revenue. Six points of share disappear between the swipe and the income statement, and that gap is the most useful number on this page for anyone pricing either company.
Is Visa or Mastercard Growing Faster?
It depends on which side of the U.S. border the card is used. In the April–June 2026 quarter, Visa’s U.S. payments volume grew 10.0% year over year to $1,940 billion, while Mastercard’s U.S. purchase volume grew 6.4% to $794 billion. Outside the U.S. the order flips: Mastercard grew 13.0% in dollar terms to $1,623 billion, against 11.4% for Visa’s international volume at $2,067 billion. All four growth rates are Axis Intelligence Research calculations from the companies’ reported dollar volumes.
U.S. vs international growth, quarter ended June 30, 2026
| Market | Visa growth (nominal USD) | Mastercard growth (nominal USD) | Faster network | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 10.0% | 6.4% | Visa | Visa Q3 FY26 OPD; Mastercard Q2 2026 release |
| Outside the U.S. | 11.4% | 13.0% | Mastercard | Same |
On their own reporting bases, Mastercard put second-quarter cross-border volume growth at 12% in local currency, and Visa reported 12% constant-dollar growth in cross-border volume excluding intra-Europe transactions, according to Visa’s fiscal third-quarter 2026 earnings release. On travel and e-commerce across borders, the two networks are running at the same pace.
Sarah Davis: The global share line looks flat because two opposite moves cancel each other. Visa is pulling away in the U.S., mostly on debit. Mastercard is gaining abroad, quarter after quarter. Anyone who reads the 62% headline as “nothing happening” is looking at the sum of two trends pointing in different directions.
Visa vs Mastercard by region, quarter ended June 30, 2026
| Region | Visa payments volume | Mastercard purchase volume | Visa share | Visa share a year earlier | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $1,940B | $794B | 70.96% | 70.28% | Visa Q3 FY26 OPD; Mastercard Q2 2026 release |
| Canada | $118B | $74B | 61.5% | 61.8% | Same |
| Latin America | $292B | $203B | 59.0% | 60.2% | Same |
| Europe (as each network labels it) | $871B | $838B | 51.0% | 50.8% | Same |
| Europe + Middle East + Africa + Asia Pacific combined | $1,656B | $1,346B | 55.2% | — | Same |
Regional borders differ between the two networks. Visa’s Europe region includes the EU’s Central European members, Israel and Turkey, and its CEMEA region covers the rest of Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa; Mastercard groups Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa as APMEA. The combined Eastern Hemisphere row avoids that mismatch. Visa’s European figure also leaves out co-badged volume, so its true European footprint is larger than the table shows.
Sarah Davis: Europe is the one region where this is a genuine two-horse race on the reported numbers, and Latin America is where Mastercard gained the most ground in a year: 1.2 points of share, with purchase volume up 16.9% in local currency. Those are the two markets where an issuer switching networks moves the needle.
Visa vs Mastercard Revenue: Who Makes More Per Dollar?
Mastercard does. Over the twelve months to June 30, 2026, Mastercard booked $35.083 billion in net revenue on $9.293 trillion of purchase volume, a yield of 37.75 basis points. Visa booked $44.488 billion on $15.337 trillion, or 29.01 basis points. A basis point is one hundredth of one percent, so Mastercard kept about 38 cents of net revenue for every $100 spent on its cards, and Visa about 29 cents.
Net revenue yield, twelve months ended June 30, 2026
| Measure | Visa | Mastercard | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net revenue | $44,488M | $35,083M | Visa and Mastercard earnings releases |
| Net revenue ÷ purchase volume | 29.01 bps | 37.75 bps | Axis Intelligence Research calculation |
| Net revenue ÷ total volume incl. cash (Visa) / GDV (Mastercard) | 24.83 bps | 31.46 bps | Axis Intelligence Research calculation |
| GAAP operating margin | 60.7% | 58.3% | Axis Intelligence Research calculation from GAAP operating income |
Both ways of measuring give the same answer: Mastercard’s yield runs roughly 27–30% above Visa’s. Visa’s operating margin is still higher, because it converts a larger revenue base with fewer people.
Quarter by quarter the gap holds: Mastercard’s yield ranged from 36.40 to 38.38 basis points across the six quarters, Visa’s from 28.11 to 30.12. Visa’s quarterly figure is noisier because it recognizes service revenue on the previous quarter’s volume, so the twelve-month figure is the reliable comparison.
Part of Mastercard’s premium is services. Mastercard reported that net revenue from value-added services and solutions grew 20% in the second quarter of 2026, twice the 10% growth in payment network revenue, according to its Q2 2026 earnings release. Its earlier services intensity analysis tracks that mix in detail.
Sarah Davis: Follow the money to where the fee hides. Visa paid out $4.68 billion in client incentives to banks and partners in a single quarter, up 18% from a year earlier, according to its own release. Incentives are what a network pays to keep an issuer’s portfolio, and they come straight off the top line. Visa wins the volume by renting it from issuers; Mastercard monetizes a smaller base harder. Neither strategy is free.
The Visa–Mastercard Lead Multiple (VMLM)
The Visa–Mastercard Lead Multiple (VMLM) is an Axis Intelligence Research index that answers one question with one number: how many times bigger is Visa than Mastercard, measured on comparable terms and the same calendar window? A reading of 1.00 would mean parity. A reading of 1.56 means Visa is 1.56 times Mastercard’s size.
How the VMLM is built
The VMLM is the geometric mean of four ratios, each Visa’s figure divided by Mastercard’s for the same period, each weighted equally at 25%:
| Component | What it captures | Weight | TTM to Jun 30, 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q2 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. purchase volume ratio | Home-market dominance | 25% | 2.413 | 2.443 | 2.365 |
| Non-U.S. purchase volume ratio | International reach | 25% | 1.279 | 1.274 | 1.292 |
| Purchase transactions ratio | Everyday usage frequency | 25% | 1.517 | 1.513 | 1.521 |
| Net revenue ratio | Monetization | 25% | 1.268 | 1.254 | 1.251 |
| VMLM reading | 1.561 | 1.559 | 1.553 |
Formula: VMLM = (U.S. ratio × non-U.S. ratio × transactions ratio × revenue ratio)^(1/4). Inputs: Visa Operational Performance Data and earnings releases; Mastercard earnings releases. Axis Intelligence Research calculation. Every input is a row in the dataset.
A geometric mean is used because the four components are ratios: a doubling in one dimension and a halving in another should cancel to 1.00, which an arithmetic average would not do.
VMLM readings by quarter
| Quarter ended | VMLM | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 2025 | 1.583 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| Jun 30, 2025 | 1.553 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| Sep 30, 2025 | 1.545 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| Dec 31, 2025 | 1.553 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 1.589 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| Jun 30, 2026 | 1.559 | Axis Intelligence Research |
| Twelve months to Jun 30, 2026 | 1.561 | Axis Intelligence Research |
The first-quarter readings run higher than the others in both years because Visa’s first-quarter revenue includes service fees earned on its strongest volume quarter, the December holiday season. Year-on-year comparisons of the same quarter are therefore the honest way to read the index: 1.553 in the second quarter of 2025, 1.559 in the second quarter of 2026.
Sarah Davis: A 0.006 move in a year is a duopoly standing still at the top line. The components tell the real story. Visa’s U.S. lead widened from 2.37x to 2.44x; its lead abroad narrowed from 1.29x to 1.27x. The VMLM will move only when one of those two trends stops, and the U.S. side has the larger lever: the Justice Department’s debit case is aimed squarely at it.
Visa vs Mastercard Credit and Debit Share
Visa’s lead is widest in U.S. debit. Over the twelve months to June 30, 2026, Visa carried 73.59% of the U.S. debit volume that ran on either network ($3,756 billion against $1,348 billion) and 67.92% of the U.S. credit volume ($3,582 billion against $1,692 billion), according to Axis Intelligence Research calculations from both companies’ filings.
| Segment, TTM to Jun 30, 2026 | Visa volume | Mastercard volume | Visa share of combined | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. debit | $3,756B | $1,348B | 73.59% | Visa Q3 FY26 OPD; Mastercard releases |
| U.S. credit | $3,582B | $1,692B | 67.92% | Same |
| Worldwide debit | $7,867B | $4,344B | 64.43% | Same |
| Worldwide credit | $7,470B | $4,950B | 60.14% | Same |
Mastercard’s credit figures include charge cards. These shares cover only the two networks; they exclude American Express, Discover and the PIN debit networks, so they are not shares of the whole card market.
The Justice Department’s complaint against Visa, filed September 24, 2024, alleges that more than 60% of U.S. debit transactions run on Visa’s debit network and that Visa charges over $7 billion a year in fees to process them, according to the Department of Justice announcement. That figure covers all debit networks, not only Visa and Mastercard, which is why it sits below the 73.59% two-network share above.
Average ticket: who carries the bigger purchases?
| Segment, TTM to Jun 30, 2026 | Visa average ticket | Mastercard average ticket | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide, all cards | $46.14 | $42.42 | Axis Intelligence Research calculation |
| U.S. credit | $89.71 | $93.93 | Same |
| U.S. debit | $50.90 | $48.61 | Same |
Average ticket is purchase volume divided by purchase transactions. Mastercard’s U.S. credit customers spend about $4 more per purchase than Visa’s, consistent with a premium-weighted credit book, while Visa’s debit tickets are larger.
How Many Transactions Do Visa and Mastercard Process?
Visa processed 263.1 billion transactions on its own networks in calendar 2025, summing its four reported quarters, according to its Operational Performance Data. Mastercard switched 175.5 billion transactions in 2025, according to its 2025 Form 10-K. Visa therefore handled about 1.50 times as many network transactions.
| Measure | Visa | Mastercard | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transactions on own network | 263.1B processed | 175.5B switched | Calendar 2025 | Visa OPD (Axis sum); Mastercard 10-K |
| Branded cards | 5,197M | 3,408M | As of Mar 31, 2026 | Visa Q3 FY26 OPD; Mastercard Q1 2026 release |
| Employees | ~34,100 | ~39,800 | Fiscal 2025 year-end | Visa and Mastercard Forms 10-K |
| Net revenue per employee | $1.17M | $0.82M | Fiscal 2025 | Axis Intelligence Research calculation |
| Merchant locations | More than 175 million | Not disclosed as a count | Fiscal 2025 | Visa Form 10-K; Mastercard Form 10-K |
Mastercard says it switches more than 70% of all transactions on Mastercard and Maestro-branded cards, including nearly all cross-border transactions, in its 10-K. Mastercard also cautions that part of its card count can be over-counted because of portfolio moves between issuers. Visa reports nearly 5 billion payment credentials and more than 175 million merchant locations in its fiscal 2025 Form 10-K.
Sarah Davis: Mastercard runs a smaller network with 5,700 more people. That is not inefficiency for its own sake; services businesses need consultants, data scientists and cyber analysts in a way a switch does not. But it is why Mastercard’s higher yield does not turn into a higher operating margin. Visa’s $563 million severance charge last quarter, disclosed in its July release, suggests it is trimming toward the same conclusion from the other side.
Visa or Mastercard: Which Gives the Better Exchange Rate?
On October 26, 2026, Visa did. Axis Intelligence Research ran the same purchase through both networks’ official currency converters — a U.S. dollar card, a 0% bank fee, the same transaction date — for six currencies, and compared each rate with the European Central Bank’s reference rate for that day. Mastercard’s rate was the more expensive of the two in every currency, by 0.19% for Canadian dollars up to 0.55% for Mexican pesos.
Exchange rate snapshot, U.S. dollar card, October 26, 2026
| Currency spent | ECB reference (USD per unit) | Visa rate | Visa vs ECB | Mastercard rate | Mastercard vs ECB | Extra cost with Mastercard per $1,000 spent | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Euro (EUR) | 1.1188000 | 1.1183005 | −0.045% | 1.1228991 | +0.366% | $4.11 | Visa and Mastercard converters; ECB |
| British pound (GBP) | 1.3347650 | 1.3357020 | +0.070% | 1.3392995 | +0.340% | $2.70 | Same |
| Japanese yen (JPY) | 0.0063514 | 0.0063621 | +0.169% | 0.0063845 | +0.521% | $3.52 | Same |
| Canadian dollar (CAD) | 0.7128385 | 0.7131655 | +0.046% | 0.7144899 | +0.232% | $1.86 | Same |
| Mexican peso (MXN) | 0.0537185 | 0.0535705 | −0.276% | 0.0538674 | +0.277% | $5.53 | Same |
| Swiss franc (CHF) | 1.2104295 | 1.2108018 | +0.031% | 1.2150668 | +0.383% | $3.52 | Same |
Rates are U.S. dollars billed per unit of foreign currency; a higher figure costs the cardholder more. ECB cross rates are derived from the euro reference rates published by the European Central Bank for October 26, 2026. Network rates come from the Visa Exchange Rate Calculator and the Mastercard Currency Converter, captured by Axis Intelligence Research. Markups and gaps are Axis Intelligence Research calculations.
On a $100 restaurant bill in Paris, the difference is small: €100 cost $111.83 on Visa’s rate and $112.29 on Mastercard’s, against $111.88 at the ECB rate. Across the six currencies, Visa’s rates averaged 0.00% from the ECB reference and Mastercard’s averaged +0.35%. Spending the equivalent of $1,000 in each of the six currencies would have cost $21.24 more on Mastercard’s rates.
Sarah Davis: Thirty-five basis points will not ruin a vacation, and it is a one-day reading, not a verdict for every day of the year. Rates move intraday, and the ECB fixes its reference at a single moment. The bigger lever sits elsewhere: neither calculator includes the foreign transaction fee your bank adds, which is why both tools carry a “bank fee” box. Check that fee first; then, if your bank offers both networks, this is the gap you are choosing between.
Visa’s calculator also displays its own “mark-up over European Central Bank rate” for each pair (for example 0.09% on the euro and −0.61% on the peso). Those company-reported figures do not match the ECB rates published for October 26, most likely because Visa measures against a different reference time. The table above uses one common benchmark for both networks so the comparison stays like-for-like.
What Changes for Visa and Mastercard in Late 2026?
Three dated events will move the numbers on this page.
Earnings, this week. Visa reports fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 results on October 27, 2026 after the market closes, per its investor relations notice. Mastercard reports third-quarter 2026 results on October 29, 2026, per its conference call notice. Both cover the quarter ended September 30, 2026, the next aligned data point for every table above.
The U.S. swipe-fee settlement. A federal judge in Brooklyn granted preliminary approval on June 9, 2026 to the revised settlement between Visa, Mastercard and U.S. merchants, according to Payments Dive’s reporting. The terms cap posted standard consumer credit interchange at 1.25% and cut the combined average effective credit interchange rate by 10 basis points for five years. Interchange (the fee the merchant’s bank pays the card-issuing bank) is not revenue for either network, but it shapes which cards issuers push and merchants accept.
The Justice Department’s debit case. United States v. Visa remains in discovery in the Southern District of New York with no trial date set, according to Payments Dive’s reporting. Mastercard is not a defendant.
Sarah Davis: Watch U.S. debit in the next two releases. If the Visa share keeps climbing above 73% of two-network debit volume while the case is pending, that is a fact both sides will cite in court.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Visa or Mastercard bigger in 2026?
Visa is larger. Over the twelve months to June 30, 2026, Visa carried $15.34 trillion in payments volume against Mastercard’s $9.29 trillion in purchase volume, a 62.27% share of the two networks combined, according to Axis Intelligence Research’s analysis of both companies’ filings. Across volume, transactions and revenue together, the VMLM puts Visa at 1.56 times Mastercard’s size.
Which network has the bigger U.S. market share, Visa or Mastercard?
Visa. It held 70.96% of combined Visa and Mastercard U.S. purchase volume in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, up from 70.28% a year earlier, per Axis Intelligence Research. Visa’s U.S. volume grew 10.0% that quarter versus 6.4% for Mastercard.
Is Mastercard gaining on Visa?
Outside the U.S., yes, slowly. Visa’s share of non-U.S. combined volume slipped from 56.37% to 56.02% between the second quarters of 2025 and 2026, and Mastercard gained 1.2 points in Latin America. Inside the U.S., Visa widened its lead over the same year.
Why does Mastercard earn more per transaction dollar than Visa?
Mastercard earned 37.75 basis points of net revenue per dollar of purchase volume in the twelve months to June 2026, versus 29.01 for Visa, per Axis Intelligence Research. Faster growth in value-added services (up 20% in Q2 2026) lifts Mastercard’s revenue relative to volume, while Visa pays larger client incentives to issuers.
Does it matter to me whether my card is Visa or Mastercard?
For most cardholders, the bank matters more than the network. Mastercard states in its 2025 10-K that it does not issue cards, extend credit or set the interest rates and account fees charged by issuers, and Visa operates on the same four-party model. Rewards, annual fees and foreign transaction fees are set by the issuing bank. The network does set the base exchange rate: on October 26, 2026, Visa’s rates were 0.19% to 0.55% cheaper than Mastercard’s across six currencies, per Axis Intelligence Research.
Which is accepted in more places, Visa or Mastercard?
Neither network publishes a directly comparable count. Visa reports more than 175 million merchant locations in its fiscal 2025 10-K; Mastercard describes acceptance at “hundreds of millions” of locations and digital access points. Both operate in more than 200 countries and territories.
Who controls U.S. debit, Visa or Mastercard?
Visa. It carried 73.59% of U.S. debit volume running on either network in the twelve months to June 2026, per Axis Intelligence Research, and the Justice Department alleges more than 60% of all U.S. debit transactions run on Visa’s debit network.
Is Visa or Mastercard better for travel abroad?
On exchange rates alone, Visa was cheaper on the day Axis Intelligence Research tested. For a U.S. dollar card on October 26, 2026, Visa’s rates sat on average at the ECB reference while Mastercard’s averaged 0.35% above it, worth $21.24 on $6,000 of spending across six currencies. Your bank’s foreign transaction fee usually matters more than the network rate.
When will the next Visa and Mastercard numbers come out?
Visa reports on October 27, 2026 and Mastercard on October 29, 2026. Both releases cover the quarter ended September 30, 2026, and this page will be updated with the new aligned quarter.
Methodology
Collection. Every input comes from the two companies’ own disclosures, fetched on October 26, 2026: Visa’s Operational Performance Data for the quarters ended March 31 and June 30, 2026; Visa’s fiscal second- and third-quarter 2026 earnings releases and fiscal 2025 Form 10-K; Mastercard’s earnings releases for the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first and second quarters of 2026; and Mastercard’s 2025 Form 10-K. Regulatory context comes from the Department of Justice. Exchange rates were captured from Visa’s and Mastercard’s public currency converters for the transaction date October 26, 2026 (U.S. dollar card, 100 units, 0% bank fee) and compared with the European Central Bank’s euro reference rates for the same date. No figure on this page comes from a market-research aggregator.
Calendar alignment. Visa’s fiscal quarters were mapped to calendar quarters (Visa’s fiscal Q3 2026 is April–June 2026). Mastercard’s third-quarter 2025 values were derived as full-year 2025 minus the six months ended June 30, 2025, minus the fourth quarter. Mastercard’s twelve-month values equal full-year 2025 plus the first half of 2026 minus the first half of 2025.
Like-for-like definitions. Visa “payments volume” is compared with Mastercard “purchase volume”; both exclude cash withdrawals. Visa “payments transactions” is compared with Mastercard “purchase transactions.” Two differences remain and are disclosed by the companies: Visa excludes co-badged volume in Europe, and Mastercard includes Mastercard-branded transactions it does not switch. Both make Visa’s reported share slightly conservative in Europe. Where Visa revised a prior quarter in a later release, the most recent release was used.
Formulas. Share of combined volume = Visa ÷ (Visa + Mastercard). Net revenue yield = net revenue ÷ purchase volume × 10,000, in basis points. Average ticket = volume ÷ transactions. VMLM = fourth root of the product of four Visa ÷ Mastercard ratios (U.S. volume, non-U.S. volume, purchase transactions, net revenue), equally weighted. Exchange-rate markup = network rate ÷ ECB cross rate − 1, where the ECB cross rate is the ECB U.S. dollar rate divided by the ECB rate for the foreign currency. All values are nominal U.S. dollars.
What the comparison does not cover. Shares are of the two networks combined, not of all cards; American Express, Discover, UnionPay and domestic schemes sit outside the denominator. Volume is reported to both networks by their client banks, and both companies note that it may be revised.
About This Dataset
The companion file visa-vs-mastercard-statistics.csv holds every number in this article as one row: 310 observations covering six calendar quarters (January 2025 to June 2026), twelve-month totals to June 30, 2026, calendar 2025 totals, regional splits, the VMLM components and the October 26, 2026 exchange-rate snapshot for six currencies. Each row carries its source organization, document, URL and retrieval date; rows computed by Axis Intelligence Research are flagged axis_calculated = yes with the formula in method_note.
This page is updated when Visa or Mastercard publishes a new quarter, not on a fixed calendar. The next update follows Mastercard’s October 29, 2026 release, when both networks will have reported the quarter ended September 30, 2026.
License: CC BY 4.0. Republish, chart and build on the data with attribution to Axis Intelligence Research and a link to this page.
Cite This Page
APA: Axis Intelligence Research. (2026). Visa vs Mastercard statistics 2026: Market share, volume, revenue and who is actually gaining. Axis Intelligence. https://axis-intelligence.com/visa-vs-mastercard-statistics/
MLA: Axis Intelligence Research. “Visa vs Mastercard Statistics 2026: Market Share, Volume, Revenue and Who Is Actually Gaining.” Axis Intelligence, 27 Oct. 2026, axis-intelligence.com/visa-vs-mastercard-statistics/.
Chicago: Axis Intelligence Research. “Visa vs Mastercard Statistics 2026: Market Share, Volume, Revenue and Who Is Actually Gaining.” Axis Intelligence, October 27, 2026. https://axis-intelligence.com/visa-vs-mastercard-statistics/.
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