MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc. both reported strong or better-than-expected earnings for the quarter. According to Reuters, MasterCard's raised fees and reduced expenses led to a 6.5-percent increase in earnings per share. For Visa, the story was similar, Reuters reported — cost reductions and greater debit use among consumers led Visa to post a 73-percent increase in net income.
MasterCard cut expenses by 13 percent, and Visa cut expenses by 9 percent.
Visa chief executive Joseph Saunders said in an earnings call that the 10.4-percent decline in credit usage was offset by a 3.6 percent growth in debit usage, primarily in the United States, where Visa is aggressively promoting its debit offerings:
 | A lot of our transactional increases are being driven by our debit volume, not our credit volume. None of our projections suggest that (credit volume) is going to come back, come roaring back in any way, shape or form. |  |
