Los Angeles: Visa says its profit jumped 25% in the last three months of 2012 as consumers racked up more credit card debt and used their debit cards more often.
The payments processing company also expanded a program to buy back its stock.
Visa says that its fiscal first-quarter net income totalled $1.3 billion, or $1.93 per share, in the three months ended 31 December.
That compares with net income of $1.03 billion, or $1.49 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose nearly 12% to $2.85 billion.
Analysts polled by FactSet had forecast earnings of $1.79 per share on revenue of $2.82 billion.
Visa makes money by processing card transactions. Its results provide insight into how much consumers are spending. Shares slipped 82 cents to $160 in after-hours trading.
