Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) are two of the largest card and electronic payment companies worldwide. The two companies power billions of transactions globally every year.
COVID-19 has led to a drop in card transactions
The COVID-19 pandemic that has crippled economies around the world has led to a drop in the card business. The pandemic has led to the closure of businesses worldwide as governments impose lockdowns to curb the spread of the pandemic. Generally, the pandemic has led to a reduction in card swipes at physical stores.
Despite the two companies recording a drop in business since the start of the year, the two stocks have maintained a strong ground. The two stocks have since gone back to where they were at the start of year.
For an investor, the choice between either of the two is a hard one. However, analysts advise that it is better to bet your money on Mastercard.
Visa expands its partnership with EU’s Reward bank
Visa announced that it is expanding its partnership with Reward, a European bank customer engagement firm, providing loyalty programs across Europe. According to the deal, Reward will leverage its successful U.K project, in which it offers customer engagement and content to numerous Visa client programs in the U.K. The program brings together several rewards from many large retailers.
According to the press release, the expansion will cover around 250 million Visa users in Europe. The program will first be launched in the Republic of Ireland towards the end of the year.
While commenting on the deal, Gavin Dein, the Founder and CEO of Reward, said the company has been making steps towards bettering its algorithm in recent years. He said the company depends on these algorithms to predict trends.
“In the last few years, we’ve made huge investments in anonymising, cleansing and aggregating transactional data so that our advanced algorithms can predict where consumers are likely to shop next,” he said, according to the release.
On his part, Visa Executive Director Kevin Akerman, said the deal will be fruitful to customers as it will allow them to spend their money the way they want.
