Mastercard Outpacing Visa in Cross-Border Revenue Growth

Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) are both trading at record highs, but one of them has an edge over the other. Despite Visa's lower valuation multiple, Mastercard is currently squeezing more revenue out of each cross-border dollar. This is due in part to Mastercard's higher assessment revenue growth rate, which is 20% compared to Visa's 6%.

The two companies have similar volume growth rates, but Mastercard is able to monetize its cross-border transactions better than Visa. This is a key differentiator between the two companies and may be an important factor for investors to consider when deciding which stock to hold.

Visa's lower yield applies to a larger base of payments volume, having crossed $4 trillion in quarterly payments volume for the first time. However, Mastercard's higher revenue growth rate and better monetization of cross-border transactions make it a more attractive option at current prices.