The Payments Duopoly: A Comparative Analysis of the Visa and Mastercard Business Models

Executive Summary

Visa Inc. and Mastercard Incorporated form one of the global economy’s most powerful duopolies. While their brands are ubiquitous, the mechanics of their business models are often misunderstood. This report provides a comparative analysis of how these payment technology giants generate revenue.

At their core, both companies operate on an identical foundation. They use an “open-loop,” four-party model that connects consumers, merchants, issuing banks, and acquiring banks. They are not financial institutions. They do not issue credit or assume the risk of consumer default. Instead, they operate the vast technology platforms—VisaNet and the Mastercard Network—that serve as the digital rails for global commerce. They earn fees on immense transaction volumes. However, this shared foundation gives way to increasingly divergent strategic priorities.

The analysis reveals Visa’s clear dominance in scale. In fiscal year 2024, Visa processed $15.7 trillion in total volume across 233.8 billion transactions. This generated $35.9 billion in net revenue.¹ Its business model is deeply rooted in monetizing this scale through transaction-centric revenue streams: Data Processing, Service, and International Transaction fees.

Mastercard is smaller, with $9.8 trillion in gross dollar volume and 159.4 billion switched transactions in fiscal year 2024.²,³ It has strategically positioned itself as a more diversified technology partner. This is most evident in its financial reporting, which is structured around two distinct pillars: the core Payment Network and a rapidly expanding Value-Added Services and Solutions (VAS) segment. In 2024, the VAS segment generated $10.83 billion. This accounted for a remarkable 38.5% of Mastercard’s $28.2 billion in total net revenue and is growing much faster than its core payments business.²,⁴

This report concludes that the competitive dynamic between the two companies is evolving. The fundamental mechanism of earning fees on payment volume remains the bedrock for both. However, Visa’s strategy now focuses on leveraging its scale to expand its “network of networks” into new payment flows, like business-to-business payments. Mastercard, conversely, is executing a clear strategy of differentiation through services. It embeds itself more deeply with clients through offerings in cybersecurity, data analytics, and loyalty programs. The future of this duopoly will be defined less by processing payments and more by their ability to innovate and monetize the ecosystem of services surrounding the transaction.

The Architecture of Modern Payments: The Four-Party Model

To understand how Visa and Mastercard generate revenue, one must first dismantle a common misconception. They are not credit card companies in the traditional sense. They are global technology companies that operate an “open-loop,” four-party payment system.⁵,⁶

This model distinguishes them from “closed-loop” systems like American Express or Discover. In a closed-loop system, the company often acts as the network, the issuer, and the acquirer.⁵ Visa and Mastercard do not issue cards, extend credit, or bear the direct financial risk of a cardholder defaulting.⁷,⁸,⁹ Their role is to provide the secure and instantaneous communication network that connects all participants in a transaction. They are compensated for this function through a variety of fees.

Defining the Key Participants

The four-party model is an ecosystem of four primary entities, with the payment network as the central facilitator.¹⁰ Understanding the role of each participant is critical to understanding the flow of money and data.

The Cardholder: This is the consumer or business holding a Visa or Mastercard-branded payment card (credit, debit, or prepaid).¹⁰,¹¹ The cardholder initiates the transaction.
The Merchant: Also known as the “acceptor,” this is the business that accepts the card payment.¹⁰ The merchant must have a relationship with an acquiring bank.
The Issuing Bank (Issuer): This is the cardholder’s bank (e.g., Chase, Bank of America). The issuer underwrites the cardholder, issues the card, manages the account, and assumes the credit risk.⁷,¹¹,¹² They earn revenue through interest charges and interchange fees.
The Acquiring Bank (Acquirer): This is the merchant’s bank. The acquirer enables the merchant to accept card payments, routes authorization requests, and deposits funds into the merchant’s account.⁷,¹¹,¹²

The fifth and central party is the Payment Network—Visa or Mastercard. The network acts as the central clearinghouse. It operates the complex infrastructure (VisaNet or the Mastercard Network) that routes transaction data and facilitates the settlement of funds.⁷,⁸,¹³

Participant	Primary Role in Transaction	Key Revenue Source / Cost Driver
Cardholder	Initiates payment for goods or services.	Receives credit line and rewards; incurs costs via interest charges and annual fees.
Merchant	Accepts card payment and provides goods or services.	Receives payment for sale; incurs cost via the “Merchant Discount Fee.”
Issuing Bank	Issues card to cardholder, assumes credit risk, authorizes transaction.	Earns revenue from interest on balances, cardholder fees, and interchange fees.
Acquiring Bank	Provides merchant with payment acceptance capabilities, manages fund settlement.	Earns revenue from the “Merchant Discount Fee” paid by the merchant.
Payment Network	Operates the network that connects issuers and acquirers for authorization, clearing, and settlement.	Earns revenue from assessment, processing, and other network fees paid by issuers and acquirers.

Anatomy of a Transaction

When a cardholder makes a purchase, a complex, high-speed exchange of information occurs in seconds, facilitated by the payment network ¹³,¹⁴,¹⁵:

Initiation: The cardholder presents their card at the merchant’s point-of-sale (POS) terminal.
Authorization Request: The merchant’s POS system sends the transaction details to its acquiring bank, which forwards the request to the payment network.
Routing: The payment network routes the request to the cardholder’s issuing bank.
Authorization Response: The issuing bank checks the account, employs fraud detection, and approves or denies the transaction. This response is sent back through the network to the merchant’s terminal.
Clearing and Settlement: At the end of the day, the merchant sends all approved transactions to its acquirer. The network facilitates the transfer of funds from the issuing banks to the acquiring banks, who then deposit the net amount into the merchants’ accounts.

Deconstructing the “Swipe Fee”

A significant source of confusion is the “swipe fee,” more formally known as the merchant discount fee. This is the total fee, typically 1.5% to 3.5% of the transaction value, that a merchant pays for accepting a card.⁷ Crucially, Visa and Mastercard do not receive the majority of this fee. The fee has several distinct parts:

Interchange Fee: This is the largest single component.⁷ The acquiring bank pays this fee to the issuing bank for each transaction. Visa and Mastercard set the default interchange rates, but they do not collect this fee.⁷,¹⁶ The interchange fee compensates the issuing bank for costs like underwriting, fraud protection, and assuming credit risk.⁷,¹⁴ Issuers also use this revenue to fund popular rewards programs that incentivize consumers to use their cards.⁷,¹⁷
Assessment and Network Fees: This is where Visa and Mastercard derive their core revenue. They charge these fees directly to their clients—the issuing and acquiring banks—for using their network and brand. These fees are much smaller than the interchange fee, often just a fraction of a percentage point (e.g., roughly 0.15% for Visa).⁷ They are typically calculated based on the gross dollar volume of transactions. The networks also charge per-transaction “switching” fees for carrying the data across their networks.¹⁴,¹⁸

The interchange fee, while not direct income, is a vital strategic instrument for Visa and Mastercard. It is the economic engine that fuels their networks. By setting rates that reward issuing banks for putting more cards into circulation, they create a powerful incentive for financial institutions to compete for consumers. This proliferation of cards creates an imperative for merchants to accept them. This dynamic creates a virtuous cycle of network effects: more cardholders attract more merchants, and more merchants enhance the card’s value for cardholders. Ongoing regulatory scrutiny of interchange fees represents a significant risk to this growth mechanism.⁷,¹⁹,²⁰

The Visa Model: Scale, Services, and Global Reach

Visa’s business model is a testament to the power of scale. As the world’s largest retail electronic payments network, its revenue is intrinsically linked to the immense volume of transactions flowing through its platform, VisaNet.⁸,²¹ The company’s financial reporting reflects a business that primarily monetizes the core functions of payment processing while strategically investing in services to fortify its network.

Operational Dominance by the Numbers

Visa’s market leadership is substantial. According to its fiscal year 2024 annual report (ending September 30, 2024), the company’s operational scale is unmatched ¹,²²:

Total Volume: $15.7 trillion, including payments and cash access.¹
Payments Volume: $13.2 trillion in purchases made with Visa credentials.¹
Transactions Processed: 233.8 billion transactions, averaging over 640 million per day.¹
Global Credentials: 4.6 billion Visa credentials in circulation, accepted at over 130 million merchant locations.¹,¹⁹

Deconstructing Revenue Streams (FY 2024)

For fiscal year 2024, Visa reported net revenues of $35.9 billion, a 10% increase over the prior year.²³,²⁴,²⁵ This revenue comes from four primary streams ⁵,¹⁹,²⁶:

Data Processing Revenues ($17.7 billion): This is Visa’s largest segment, at 35.6% of gross revenues.²⁵,²⁷ It includes fees for authorization, clearing, settlement, and other services on the VisaNet platform. Revenue is driven primarily by the number of transactions.¹⁹,²⁶
Service Revenues ($16.1 billion): This segment is 32.4% of gross revenues and consists of fees paid by clients for participating in Visa card programs.²⁵,²⁷ These fees are based on the total dollar volume of transactions.¹⁹,²⁶
International Transaction Revenues ($12.7 billion): Comprising 25.5% of gross revenues, these are fees from cross-border transactions and currency conversion.²⁵,²⁷ These are typically high-margin revenues driven by the volume and number of international transactions.¹⁹,²⁶
Other Revenues ($3.2 billion): This is Visa’s smallest but fastest-growing segment, at 6.4% of gross revenues with 29% year-over-year growth.²⁷ This expansion is fueled by the adoption of Visa’s Value-Added Services (VAS). While most VAS revenue is reported within Data Processing, this category captures a growing portion, including fees for advisory services, marketing, card benefits, and brand licensing.⁴⁶,⁴⁷ The strong performance of Visa’s broader VAS portfolio, which has grown over 20% annually since 2021, drives this segment’s acceleration.⁴⁸

The Strategic Role of Client Incentives

This section examines client incentives, a critical component of Visa’s financial model. These incentives are recorded as a contra-revenue item, meaning they are subtracted from gross revenues. In fiscal year 2024, Visa recorded $13.8 billion in client incentives, representing over 27% of its gross revenues.²⁵

These incentives are long-term contracts with financial institutions and partners. They provide payments and rebates in exchange for commitments to generate payment volume on Visa’s network.⁵,¹⁹,²⁶ This expenditure is a primary competitive tool used to secure market share and maintain its dominant network position.

Beyond the Transaction: Visa’s Growth Levers

Visa’s corporate strategy focuses on three primary growth levers: strengthening consumer payments, expanding into new payment flows, and building out value-added services.²²,²⁸

Consumer Payments: Visa continues to innovate its core business. It promotes technologies like contactless “Tap to Pay,” which now accounts for over 80% of face-to-face transactions outside the U.S. It also advances its tokenization service, which secures online payments by replacing card numbers with a digital token.²⁸ By the end of fiscal year 2024, Visa had issued 11.5 billion network tokens.²⁸
New Flows: A major priority is expanding Visa’s network beyond traditional retail payments into a vast, $200 trillion market of other payment types.²² Through its “network of networks” strategy, Visa aims to be the single connection for business-to-business (B2B), government-to-consumer (G2C), and person-to-person (P2P) money movement.²⁸ The Visa Direct platform is key to this initiative, enabling real-time push payments globally.²⁸
Value-Added Services (VAS): Visa has built a suite of over 200 services that provide value beyond transaction processing.²⁹,³⁰ These services are a key growth area and include:
- Risk & Identity Solutions: This includes AI-powered fraud prevention tools under the Visa Protect brand.³¹ These systems helped prevent an estimated $40 billion in fraud in 2023.³²
- Acceptance Solutions: Through subsidiaries like Cybersource and Authorize.net, Visa provides payment gateway services to merchants.²⁸,³³
- Issuing Solutions: Visa offers services to its bank clients, including back-end processing (Visa DPS) and, through its acquisition of Pismo, core banking capabilities.¹⁹,²⁸
- Advisory Services: The Visa Consulting & Analytics (VCA) division leverages transaction data to provide clients with strategic advice.²⁸,³⁴,³⁵

Visa’s financial reporting structure underscores its fundamental identity as a highly scaled utility for processing payments. While its investments in VAS are strategically crucial, their financial contribution is not given the same prominence as in Mastercard’s reporting. This suggests a strategy where VAS primarily enhances the core transaction business rather than standing as a separate pillar.

Revenue Segment	FY 2024 Revenue (in billions)	Percentage of Gross Revenue	Year-over-Year Growth (%)	Key Drivers
Data Processing	$17.7	35.6%	11%	Number of transactions processed
Service	$16.1	32.4%	9%	Payments volume ($)
International Transaction	$12.7	25.5%	9%	Cross-border volume and currency conversion
Other	$3.2	6.4%	29%	Licensing, value-added services, etc.
Gross Revenues	$49.7	100%	10.6%
Client Incentives	$(13.8)	N/A	12%	Volume-based partnership agreements
Net Revenues	$35.9	N/A	10%

Note: Table data is derived from Visa’s fiscal year 2024 earnings release.²⁵ Percentages of gross revenue are calculated by the author based on these figures.

The Mastercard Model: Agility, Diversification, and Value-Added Services

Mastercard operates on the same four-party model as Visa. However, as the second-largest player, it has pursued a distinct strategy centered on agility, innovation, and diversification beyond core transaction processing. This focus is clearly articulated in its financial reporting, which is organized into two segments: the Payment Network and a rapidly growing Value-Added Services and Solutions division. This structure signals a company evolving into a broader technology, data, and security firm.

Network and Market Presence

While second to Visa in scale, Mastercard’s global footprint is vast. The company’s performance in fiscal year 2024 (ending December 31, 2024) demonstrates its significant market presence ⁹,³⁶:

Gross Dollar Volume (GDV): $9.8 trillion in total transaction value, an 11% increase over the prior year.²
Switched Transactions: 159.4 billion transactions, also an 11% increase.³
Global Credentials: 3.3 billion Mastercard and Maestro-branded cards in circulation at the end of 2023.³⁶,³⁷

A Two-Pillar Revenue Structure (FY 2024)

For fiscal year 2024, Mastercard reported net revenues of $28.2 billion, a 12% increase.²,³,²⁰ Unlike Visa, Mastercard presents its business through two distinct pillars, providing clear insight into its diversification ⁴,³⁶:

Payment Network ($17.34 billion): This segment represents 61.5% of total revenue and includes all core transaction processing fees.⁴,³⁸ Its revenue comes from three main sources:
- Domestic Assessments: Fees charged to clients based on the gross dollar volume of domestic transactions.³⁹
- Cross-Border Volume Fees: Fees from transactions where the merchant’s country differs from the cardholder’s, including currency conversion.³⁹
- Transaction Processing Fees: “Switching fees” for the authorization, clearing, and settlement services for each transaction.¹⁸,³⁹
Value-Added Services and Solutions ($10.83 billion): This segment is the cornerstone of Mastercard’s differentiation strategy. It accounts for a substantial 38.5% of total revenue and includes products often sold independently of a transaction.⁴,³⁸,⁴⁰ This segment is broken down into two categories:
- Cyber & Intelligence Solutions: Offerings designed to enhance security and mitigate risk, including digital identity verification and AI-based fraud detection.³⁶,⁴¹
- Data & Services Solutions: This category leverages Mastercard’s data assets. It includes strategic consulting, data analytics, and loyalty program management.³⁶,⁴¹,⁴²

The Function of Rebates and Incentives

This section details rebates and incentives, which Mastercard uses as a key competitive tool. These payments are made to financial institutions to secure long-term contracts and drive transaction volume.¹⁸,³⁹ These incentives are recorded as a contra-revenue item (subtracted from gross revenues) and are netted against the revenues of both the Payment Network and VAS segments.

The Services Imperative

Mastercard’s explicit focus on its VAS segment is the central pillar of its corporate strategy. The performance of this segment underscores its importance:

Superior Growth: In fiscal year 2024, the VAS segment grew by 16.8%, significantly outpacing the 9.55% growth of the core Payment Network segment.⁴ This shows that diversified offerings are driving a growing portion of Mastercard’s business.
Strategic Realignment: In April 2024, Mastercard announced a major organizational realignment into three areas: Core Payments, Commercial & New Payment Flows, and Services. This move integrated its Cyber & Intelligence, Data & Services, and Open Banking teams into a single division, signaling that these offerings are central to future growth.⁴³

Mastercard’s reporting structure is a deliberate act of strategic communication. By creating a distinct VAS segment, the company signals that its value extends far beyond transaction rails. This positioning changes the competitive narrative from one based purely on scale—where Visa has an advantage—to one centered on integrated technology and deep client partnerships. This strategy creates a defensive moat, as clients deeply integrated with Mastercard’s services face higher switching costs.

Revenue Segment	FY 2024 Revenue (in billions)	Percentage of Total Revenue	Year-over-Year Growth (%)	Key Components
Payment Network	$17.34	61.5%	9.55%	Domestic Assessments, Cross-Border Volume Fees, Transaction Processing Fees
Value-Added Services & Solutions	$10.83	38.5%	16.8%	Cyber & Intelligence Solutions, Data & Services Solutions (Consulting, Analytics, Loyalty)
Net Revenues	$28.17	100%	12.23%

Note: Table data is for fiscal year 2024 and is derived from industry financial analysis reports.⁴ The total net revenue figure differs slightly from the $28.2 billion reported in the company’s earnings release due to rounding in segment reporting.

Head-to-Head: A Comparative Analysis of the Payments Giants

While Visa and Mastercard are built on the same model, a direct comparison reveals a nuanced duopoly. Visa’s primary advantage is its immense scale. Mastercard has successfully differentiated itself through an aggressive focus on value-added services.

Financial and Operational Scorecard

An examination of their fiscal year 2024 results provides a clear picture of their relative positions. Visa is demonstrably the larger network across nearly every key metric.

Scale and Volume: Visa’s dominance in transaction flow is its most significant advantage. Its $15.7 trillion in total volume is about 60% larger than Mastercard’s $9.8 trillion.¹,² Similarly, Visa processed 233.8 billion transactions compared to Mastercard’s 159.4 billion.¹,³ This superior scale creates powerful network effects.
Financial Performance: The difference in scale translates directly to the top line. Visa’s FY2024 net revenue of $35.9 billion was significantly higher than Mastercard’s $28.2 billion.¹,² Visa’s scale also affords it greater operational efficiency. It consistently reports higher operating margins, recently reaching 68% compared to Mastercard’s 58.4%.²,²¹
Market Share: In the lucrative U.S. market, Visa’s leadership is particularly pronounced. According to 2024 data, Visa commanded a 70.28% market share of purchase volume, with Mastercard holding the remaining 29.72%.⁴⁴

Metric	Visa (FY 2024)	Mastercard (FY 2024)
Net Revenue	$35.9 billion	$28.2 billion
Operating Income	$23.6 billion (GAAP)	$15.6 billion (GAAP)
Adjusted Operating Margin	~68% (Recent Quarter)	58.4%
Net Income	$19.7 billion (GAAP)	$12.9 billion (GAAP)
Total/Gross Dollar Volume	$15.7 trillion	$9.8 trillion
Processed/Switched Transactions	233.8 billion	159.4 billion
Cards in Circulation	4.6 billion	3.3 billion (end of 2023)
U.S. Purchase Volume Market Share	70.28%	29.72%

Note: Data compiled from sources.¹,²,³,²¹,³⁷,⁴⁴ Operating margins are based on different reporting periods and adjustments as cited and are for comparative illustration.

Network	U.S. Purchase Volume (2024, in trillions)	U.S. Market Share (%)
Visa	$6.583	70.28%
Mastercard	$2.784	29.72%
Total	$9.367	100.00%

Source: The Nilson Report.⁴⁴ Data includes credit, debit, and prepaid card products.

Business Model Nuances

The most significant difference lies in their reporting philosophy, which reflects their corporate strategies.

Visa’s Transaction-Centric Model: Visa’s revenue segmentation emphasizes its role as a payment processor. Its value proposition is tied directly to transaction volume and value. While it has a robust suite of value-added services, their financial impact is less transparent.
Mastercard’s Two-Pillar Model: Mastercard’s explicit separation of “Payment Network” and “Value-Added Services” provides a clear window into its diversification. It allows investors to see that nearly 40% of its business comes from services outside a single transaction.⁴⁰ This reporting choice strategically reframes the competition away from a pure battle of scale.

Strategic Divergence and Future Positioning

While both companies invest in similar trends like AI and cybersecurity, their strategic narratives show a subtle divergence.

Visa’s “Network of Networks” Strategy: Visa is leveraging its dominant scale to expand the definition of its network. The goal is to become the single, universal connection for all forms of money movement, whether from a consumer to a merchant or a business to a supplier.²⁸ Its acquisitions of companies like Tink (open banking) and Pismo (issuer processing) are designed to add new on-ramps to this expanding network.¹⁹,²⁸
Mastercard’s Services-Led Strategy: Mastercard uses its services portfolio as a primary competitive weapon. The rapid growth of its VAS segment is the result of a deliberate strategy to differentiate itself where it cannot compete on scale alone. Its organizational realignment and acquisitions underscore a commitment to becoming a leader in data, analytics, and security services anchored by a world-class payment network.⁴³,⁴⁵

Conclusion: The Future of the Duopoly

The business models of Visa and Mastercard are evolving. While constructed on the identical four-party payment system, they are charting different courses for future growth. Their shared foundation—earning fees by facilitating transactions—remains the engine of their profitability. However, the competition is moving beyond scale to a more complex rivalry of capabilities.

Visa’s path forward is one of expansive utility. It is leveraging its scale to become the indispensable infrastructure for all digital money movement. By expanding its “network of networks,” Visa aims to embed itself even more deeply into the global economy. For Visa, scale is not just an advantage; it is the strategy.

Mastercard, in contrast, has embarked on a transformation into a diversified technology company. Recognizing it cannot surpass Visa on volume, Mastercard has cultivated its VAS segment into a formidable business that now accounts for nearly two-fifths of its revenue. This services-led approach creates deeper client relationships that are less susceptible to the pressures of pure transaction processing.

Future Outlook and Key Challenges

Looking ahead, both companies face a common set of challenges and opportunities that will shape their future.

Regulatory Scrutiny: Persistent regulatory pressure on interchange fees remains a significant threat.⁷,²⁰ New regulations in 2025 are also set to tighten rules around recurring billing and dispute resolution, increasing compliance burdens.⁴⁹
Technological Disruption: The payments landscape is evolving rapidly. The rise of alternative payment methods, including real-time account-to-account (A2A) transfers and digital wallets, presents a long-term competitive threat.⁵⁰,⁵¹ The emergence of stablecoins is another disruptive force, though both companies are actively working to integrate them into their networks.⁵²,⁵³
Evolving Security Threats: As digital transactions become more sophisticated, so do the methods of fraudsters. The increasing use of AI in cybercrime requires constant innovation. Both companies are heavily invested in their own AI-powered fraud prevention platforms to secure the ecosystem.⁵⁰,⁵⁴
Meeting Expectations: In an increasingly digital world, consumers demand seamless and personalized experiences.⁵⁵ Merchants require higher approval rates and robust fraud management.⁵⁰ The success of both companies will depend on their ability to provide the technology and services that meet these rising expectations.

Ultimately, the enduring success of this duopoly will depend on how effectively they execute their diverging strategies. Visa is betting on the universal utility of its massive network. Mastercard is betting that a differentiated portfolio of high-value services will allow it to win in a market that demands more than just a transaction. Their parallel yet distinct paths will continue to shape the evolution of global commerce.

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