When Visa’s top executives reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings this week, they emphasized the stability of the card network’s business over the past nine months to a year, and said they’re dismissing the possibility of a recession for the purposes of planning next year.
Strong consumer spending and a recovery of cross-border travel as the deadly COVID-19 pandemic faded pumped up revenue and earnings for the year ended Sept. 30. Results have been “very strong” despite four-decade-high inflation, the ongoing pandemic, the impact of sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year and the threat of a global recession, Visa CEO Al Kelly told analysts on a Tuesday webcast.