KBW: Visa on Track for Further Gains in Mobile Payments, Beyond

The word in from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) sent our way just recently says that things have been going very well for Visa, one of the leaders in the mobile payments space. However, KBW doesn’t believe that Visa’s fantastic run in the market will stop or even slow any time soon, barring calamity. Thus, look for Visa’s run to keep going, if KBW figures it right.

KBW acknowledges, and that right early, that Visa has already had a big run of things. Visa’s stock price is up 31 percent over the same time last year, which would make some think that Visa’s due for a bit of a correction. Some profit taking isn’t out of line, or at least a plateau. Despite this, Visa should be in line for continued growth as several “secular growth trends” get behind Visa’s likely fortunes.

Three key points, according to KBW, will help drive Visa growth forward in the weeks and months to come. Consumer, of course, will play a role. Customers paying with Visa will be a tentpole business, just like it always has, and with consumer confidence still high in the post-Trump age, that’s clearly going to be a gainful field. However, Visa’s likely also counting on its business-to-business (B2B) operations and its Visa Direct system to help drive growth.

Plus, KBW looks for a more aggressive growth pattern in Europe, where Visa has been engaged largely in holding actions and defensive postures for much of 2018. 2019 will focus on growth, on new but smaller markets, and new relationships with fintech operations driving things forward.

New markets opening up, old markets looking a little more vibrant, and in general, more opportunity now than there was even last year when Visa saw those massive gains, is all good news for Visa. It’s not a slam-dunk, of course—anything can go wrong with these projections going forward—but with so many new sources of potential growth, it’s going to take a serious sock in the economic snoot to slow things to any great degree for Visa.

Thus, the future looks bright for the credit card issuer, and thanks to mobile payments, it’s taking on a whole new life.