What drove the acceleration in cross-border volume from April to June/July, and did the World Cup play a role? Should moderation be expected?

Sachin Mehra attributed the acceleration to a recovery in outbound travel from GCC countries (Middle East) and increased cross-border spending from Venezuela, where Mastercard is a market leader, particularly in card-not-present ex-travel, due to increased availability of USD. He noted it's hard to quantify the World Cup's exact impact but acknowledged its potential contribution. “The other thing which has been supportive of cross-border during the quarter has been Venezuela. And I called this out in my prepared remarks. Important to understand what's going on there. I think all of you are aware that we deconsolidated our Venezuela operations in 2018.”

What other markets are targeted for domestic switching solutions like the UAE initiative, and could Europe be a target despite its closed-loop initiatives?

Michael Miebach explained that the UAE initiative leverages Mastercard's modular technology strategy ('run anything anywhere') to access new transactions and provide resilience. He cited similar initiatives in South Africa (real-time payment switch) and noted that while Europe is competitive, Mastercard is well-positioned with its card propositions and has the flexibility to adapt with its technology should better engagement opportunities arise. “So we're basically running a part of the switch in the UAE and it gives us access to transactions that we didn't have before. So it's a good partnership from that perspective, upside for us, but it gives that resilience and global technology to the UAE, tremendous partnership.”

Can you elaborate on the upside for Mastercard from the strong demand for cybersecurity, given trends in security software?

Michael Miebach highlighted increased demand for Mastercard's fraud, identity, and cyber portfolio, strengthened by Recorded Future. He noted that cybersecurity is a top concern for CEOs, especially with new AI models, and Mastercard's Threat Intelligence (preventing $172M in fraud) and broader security offerings are meeting this need. He emphasized the 'flywheel' effect of attaching these services to transaction growth. “When I was talking earlier about Threat Intelligence, here, with this ever-expanding threat landscape, it is almost impossible for any company to meet every fraud risk that, that potentially is.”

Mastercard (MA) Q2 FY26 earnings call: guidance and Q&A

Earnings call· Jun 2026 (Q2 FY26)· Financials· Jul 30, 2026

Source: earnings call transcript

Executive summary

Mastercard Q2 FY26 — Strong Performance Driven by VAS and Cross-Border Recovery

Mastercard delivered a strong Q2 FY26, exceeding expectations with robust growth in net revenue and value-added services, supported by a healthy macro environment and strategic execution. The company is actively shaping the future of commerce through initiatives like Agentic Commerce and stablecoins, while navigating geopolitical uncertainties and leveraging its diversified business model.

Highlights

Net revenues were up 12% year-over-year on a non-GAAP currency-neutral basis.
Adjusted net income increased 16% year-over-year on a non-GAAP currency-neutral basis.
Value-added services net revenue grew 18% year-over-year on a non-GAAP currency-neutral basis.
Cross-border volume increased 12% globally for the quarter.
Switched transactions grew 9% year-over-year in Q2.

Concerns

Geopolitical uncertainty and its potential economic impacts continue to be monitored.
Impacts from the Middle East conflict, while moderating, are expected to remain at similar levels to late Q2 for the rest of the year.

Guidance & targets

Category	Target	Timeline	Confidence
Net revenue growth	high end of low double digits range high materiality	Q3 · FY26	High
Operating expense growth	low double digits range medium materiality	Q3 · FY26	High
Net revenue growth	high end of low double digits range high materiality	Full Year FY26	High
Operating expense growth	low double digits range medium materiality	Full Year FY26	High
Other income and expense	$125 million medium materiality	Q3 · FY26	High
Non-GAAP tax rate	20% to 21% medium materiality	Q3 and Q4 FY26	High

MA operating KPIs by quarter

MA operating KPIs stated on its earnings calls, by fiscal quarter
KPI	Dec 2024 Q4 FY24	Mar 2025 Q1 FY25	Sep 2025 Q3 FY25	Dec 2025 Q4 FY25	Mar 2026 Q1 FY26	Change vs prior quarter
Cards	3.5B Globally, there are 3.5 billion Mastercard and Maestro-branded cards issued. Source: earnings call transcript	3.5B Globally, there are 3.5 billion Mastercard and Maestro-branded cards issued. Source: earnings call transcript	3.6B Globally, there are 3.6 billion Mastercard and Maestro-branded cards issued. Source: earnings call transcript	3.7B Globally, there are 3.7 billion Mastercard and Maestro-branded cards issued. Source: earnings call transcript	3.7B Globally, there are 3.7 billion Mastercard and Maestro-branded cards issued. Source: earnings call transcript	0%

Operating figures the company stated on at least two of the calls shown, checked against each call's transcript. Click a figure to read the sentence. A dash means it was not stated that quarter.

Product announcements

Product	Type	Timeline
Mastercard Threat Intelligence	launch	In its first 3 quarters
Mastercard Merchant Trust Services	launch	—
Mastercard Agent Pay for machines	launch	—
Open USD	milestone	later this year

Deals & partnerships

Evermore Exclusive partnership to roll out a new program for beneficiaries of food assistance programs in the United States.

Exclusive partnership to provide a simple, more secure solution for beneficiaries of food assistance programs, aiming to digitize a significant portion of the $100 billion annual spend.

Alipay Plus Expanding partnership to embed Mastercard credentials into their network of e-wallets.

Expanding the partnership in Mexico with Clip, a leading fintech, to exclusively tokenize stored wallet balances, enabling users to transact across Mastercard's global acceptance network in a country where over 70% of consumer payments are cash based.

Al Etihad Payments Partnering with the Central Bank of the UAE's subsidiary to build switching technology for the country's domestic payments infrastructure.

Mastercard will provide switching services behind domestic debit in Jaywan Mastercard cobatch credit transactions in the UAE, and also provide value-add services to the domestic switch, including fraud prevention and cybersecurity.

JPMorgan Chase Renewed a key partnership on the Chase Freedom Flex portfolio in the U.S.

Renewed a key partnership with JPMorgan Chase on the Chase Freedom Flex portfolio in the U.S.

Banamex Renewed partnership with exclusivity for nearly all portfolios in Mexico.

Renewed partnership in Mexico, where Mastercard has exclusivity for nearly all portfolios, representing almost 19 million cards.

Revolut Expanded partnership to support their affluent debit proposition (Ultra) and commercial portfolio in new geographies.

Now supporting Revolut's affluent debit proposition, Ultra, across Singapore and Australia, plus their commercial portfolio in New Zealand, building on their growing partnership in the U.S. and long-standing global relationship.

Lion Federal Credit Unions Flipped U.S. credit and debit portfolios to Mastercard.

Flipped U.S. credit and debit portfolios to Mastercard.

Eurobank Flipped consumer and commercial portfolios in Greece to Mastercard.

Flipped consumer and commercial portfolios in Greece to Mastercard.

Uber Launched a new co-brand card in Mexico.

Launched a new co-brand card with Uber in Mexico.

Hilton Launched a new co-brand card in Mexico.

Launched a new co-brand card with Hilton in Mexico.

Saudi National Bank Became the exclusive partner across their credit, debit, prepaid, and commercial portfolios.

Following a recent flip in their travel co-brand portfolio, Mastercard is now the exclusive partner across their credit, debit, prepaid, and commercial portfolios.

Intuit Win leading to incremental issuance of small business cards.

Intuit in the United States is among the wins contributing to incremental small business card issuance.

Truist Bank Chosen Mastercard's virtual card capabilities for their corporate clients' invoice-based payments needs.

Truist Bank in the U.S. has chosen Mastercard's leading virtual card capabilities for their corporate clients' invoice-based payments needs.

WeChat Pay Hong Kong Partnering through Mastercard Move for global money movement.

Partnering with WeChat Pay Hong Kong through Mastercard Move to support global money movement.

Pyrimid Partnering through Mastercard Move for global money movement in India.

Partnering with Pyrimid in India through Mastercard Move to support global money movement.

Riyadh Air Exclusive partnership with Saudi Arabia's new national airline.

Exclusive partnership with Riyadh Air, Saudi Arabia's new national airline, for branded prepaid and credit cards, virtual card payments for travel agents, and streamlined supplier payments.

Wipro Partnered to further scale cybersecurity capabilities.

Partnered with Wipro, a global information technology and consulting company, to further scale cybersecurity capabilities.

Rogers Communications Leverages Mastercard's identity capabilities.

Rogers Communications in Canada leverages Mastercard's identity capabilities to verify transaction authenticity, customer onboarding, and more.

Delivery Hero Leverages Mastercard's identity capabilities.

Delivery Hero leverages Mastercard's identity capabilities to verify transaction authenticity, customer onboarding, and more.

BVNK Acquisition to serve as the trusted interoperable layer, enabling customers to send, receive, store and convert assets.

Mastercard expects to close the BVNK acquisition in Q3, leveraging BVNK's enterprise-grade payment orchestration capabilities, robust licensing, and connectivity to enable customers to manage digital assets.

Risks & headwinds

Geopolitical uncertainty and potential economic impacts Q3 FY26, Full Year FY26

Q3 net revenue expected to have a headwind of approximately 0.5 ppt from foreign exchange; Q3 operating expenses expected to have a 0.5 ppt headwind from inorganic activity; Full-year operating expenses expected to have a headwind of 0.5 to 1 ppt from foreign exchange.

Mitigation:Mastercard's diversified business model across payment products, geographies, spend categories, and services, coupled with continued execution, helps navigate various operating environments.

Middle East conflict impacts Q2 FY26, rest of FY26

Impacts in Q2 were lower-than-anticipated; estimated to remain at similar levels to late Q2 for the rest of the year.

Mitigation:The company's diversified business model and observed recovery in outbound travel from GCC countries help mitigate the impact.

What to watch in Q3 FY26

BVNK acquisition closure

Q3 FY26

Current expected to close in Q3

Target Closed

Why it matters

This acquisition is key to Mastercard's strategy in digital assets, serving as an interoperable layer for stablecoins and other digital assets, and its closure will mark a significant step in this area.

We expect to close the BVK acquisition this quarter.

Find out whether MA delivers this. Inve re-checks your case every morning.

Q&A highlights

Do agentic commerce use cases require stablecoins, or can traditional Mastercard credentials fulfill them? Is there a unique value proposition for stablecoins in this context?

Michael Miebach explained that consumer-oriented agentic commerce can leverage existing card networks, especially with Mastercard's unique protections like verifiable intent. However, machine-to-machine payments, characterized by low-ticket, high-velocity transactions, might require different underlying infrastructure, potentially involving stablecoins or other settlement types. He emphasized stablecoins' role in the financial ecosystem for B2B/P2P flows, but not P2M, and highlighted the BVNK acquisition's role as an interoperable layer for multiple coins/chains.

“There is a connect with stablecoins. You could see that stablecoins play a role, but not the only thing. Stablecoins on the other hand, for us is a separate topic generally, but will play a role in the financial ecosystem of the future, which is why we have been investing.”

asked by Ramsey El-Assal · answered by Michael Miebach

2 min read 6 chapters

Detailed narrative

Strategic Focus and Virtuous Cycle

Mastercard's strong Q2 performance is attributed to a clear strategy focused on consumer payments, commercial flows, new payment flows, and value-added services, which collectively reinforce its virtuous cycle. The company is actively targeting significant secular opportunities to digitize payments, noting that only one-third of consumer transactions are currently carded, with even larger opportunities in commercial flows.

Network Expansion and Switching Penetration

Mastercard continues to enhance its network architecture, achieving a 72% switching penetration. A notable partnership with the Central Bank of the UAE (Al Etihad Payments) involves building switching technology for the country's domestic payments infrastructure. Mastercard will serve as the prime international scheme for co-batched credit cards and provide incremental switching services for domestic debit and co-batch credit transactions, along with value-added services like fraud prevention.

Key Wins and Partnership Expansions

In the first half of 2026, Mastercard secured several hundred flips and deal expansions, projected to generate trillions of dollars in incremental volume over the next decade. Key renewals include JPMorgan Chase for the Chase Freedom Flex portfolio in the U.S. and Banamex in Mexico, covering nearly 19 million cards.

The company also expanded its partnership with Revolut and launched new co-branded cards with Uber and Hilton in Mexico.

Commercial Payments Momentum

Commercial debit and credit volumes grew 12% in Q2, driven by banks and corporates adopting Mastercard's modernized capabilities. The company has consistently added approximately 6 million new small business cards to the market each quarter. Truist Bank selected Mastercard's virtual card capabilities for corporate invoice payments, and Mastercard Move is expanding global money movement partnerships with WeChat Pay Hong Kong and Pyrimid in India.

Value-Added Services & Cybersecurity Demand

Mastercard's value-added services and solutions segment saw 18% net revenue growth, fueled by strong demand for security solutions amidst an expanding threat landscape. The company's Threat Intelligence, built on Recorded Future, identified over 7 million card testing transactions, preventing an estimated $172 million in fraud. Identity solutions are also gaining traction with clients like Rogers Communications and Delivery Hero for authentication and onboarding.

Agentic Commerce and Stablecoin Strategy

Mastercard is at the forefront of Agentic Commerce, introducing Mastercard Agent Pay for machines to enable AI agents to purchase low-value digital services with on-chain permissioning and off-chain settlement. The company views stablecoins as having significant potential for B2B and P2P flows, noting a tripling of crypto co-brand volume over the last two years.

The anticipated Q3 closure of the BVNK acquisition will further establish Mastercard as a trusted interoperable layer for digital assets.

Summary of the company's earnings call; see how call summaries are prepared. Not investment advice.