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- Visa and Mastercard say stablecoins are not yet a threat.
- Both firms reported strong earnings despite rising competition.
- Stablecoin adoption may challenge their dominance in the future.
Visa and Mastercard remain confident in their dominance. In their latest earnings calls, both companies said stablecoins have not grown enough to pose a risk to their payment systems. Visa processes around $15 trillion a year. Stablecoin usage barely registers next to that figure. Mastercard echoed a similar view.
The companies believe stablecoins may be better for those economies where domestic currencies are volatile. Even while there has been building excitement over digital coins, both companies produced strong earnings. Visa achieved an 8% quarter-over-quarter growth of earnings to $5.3 billion.
Mastercard followed with 14% growth to $3.7 billion. These sales beat analysts’ predictions. The duo controls up to 70% of all U.S. sales. Their gigantic networks and track record of being reliable cushion them. Even amid earlier trends such as the mobile wallets or the peer-to-peer tools, Visa and Mastercard stood firm.
Visa and Mastercard Swipe Fees Under Pressure
Their services became too ingrained in consumer habit to be dislodged. A new technology coming into view may struggle to scale to the extent needed to threaten the incumbent players. Swipe fees remain an essential source of income. Together, Visa and Mastercard earned nearly $95 billion in swipe fees last year.
This comes from charging merchants a small cut per transaction. But that income is showing signs of pressure. Visa now earns 6.6 cents per transaction. That’s down from nearly 9 cents a decade ago. Mastercard has seen a similar drop. While part of this is due to business and money models evolving, there’s increasing pricing pressure.
Retailers, and especially large retailers like Walmart, are searching for cost cuts. They also are exploring using stablecoins and other payment tools that skirt the normal networks. If those tools become easy to deploy and achieve broad public acceptance, they could start taking business from the giant card players.
Stablecoins Eye Mainstream as Card Giants Diversify
The Genius Act, as an original piece of legislation, grants impetus to the stablecoins. The tokens are being provided with regulatory direction to enter the mainstream. The retail and banking channels are now openly considering payment from the medium of stablecoins. That holds promises for uncertainty ahead.
Circle, one of the biggest stablecoin companies, has seen its value grow at an explosive pace. The market cap has surpassed $40 billion as Circle went public last June. The figure suggests investors believe an arrival of the mainstream is soon for the stablecoins. If they are right, Visa and Mastercard could lose their grasp.
The credit card behemoths are secure, at least for the moment. They continue to grow and develop by adding consulting and numerous other services. But the market awaits and looks on. The moment usage of stablecoins becomes greater, and this grows appreciably from the United States, then finally Visa and Mastercard’s stranglehold can be influenced.
Related Reading: Strategy Sets New Bitcoin KPI Records with $13.2B YTD Gain in 2025
