MasterCard vs. Visa: The Fight for Mobile Payments
Case
Teaching Notes
Supplementary Resources
Abstract
The MasterCard vs. Visa case study allows students to put themselves in the shoes of Visa CEO, Joseph Saunders as Visa acquires CyberSource in 2010. Saunders at Visa and other CEOs at companies like MasterCard are facing new technologies such as mobile payments that might disrupt the ways they have been doing business for decades. The case study also presents background on Visa and MasterCard, as well as an overview of the mobile payments industry and players. Students are given an overview of the landscape and are asked to think about some of the key industry, competitive, strategic, and leadership issues that Saunders faces. The case study provides students with an opportunity to see the real-time challenges that a CEO might face and the decisions he or she would need to make with limited information.
This case was prepared for inclusion in Sage Business Cases primarily as a basis for classroom discussion or self-study, and is not meant to illustrate either effective or ineffective management styles. Nothing herein shall be deemed to be an endorsement of any kind. This case is for scholarly, educational, or personal use only within your university, and cannot be forwarded outside the university or used for other commercial purposes.
2026 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Resources
Exhibit 1: Payments Volume, Total Volume, Total Transactions and Cards
| Company | Payments Volume (billions) | Total Volume (billions) | Total Transactions (billions) | Cards (millions) |
| Visa Inc. | $ 2,727 | $ 4,346 | 56.7 | 1,717 |
| MasterCard | 1,900 | 2,533 | 29.9 | 981 |
| American Express | 673 | 683 | 5.3 | 92 |
| Discover | 106 | 120 | 1.6 | 57 |
| JCB | 63 | 68 | 0.7 | 60 |
| Diners Club | 30 | 31 | 0.2 | 7 |
Source: Visa 10-K and 8-K, 2009.
Exhibit 2: 2009 Global Market Share in Terms of Purchase Transactions for General Purpose Credit Cards
Visa: 64.79 percent
MasterCard: 26.5 percent
American Express: 4.57 percent
China UnionPay: 3.29 percent
JCB: 0.73 percent
Diners Club: 0.14 percent
Source: Visa 10-K 2010.
Exhibit 3: Visa Financial Statements (Balance Sheet and Income Statements)
Source: Visa 10-K Annual Report, 2009.
Exhibit 4: MasterCard Financial Statements
Source: MasterCard 10-K Annual Report 2009.
Exhibit 5
MasterCard and Visa by Geography
Visa Operating Revenue by Geography (in millions)
| 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | |
| United States | 4023 | 3664 | 3312 |
| Rest of World | 2669 | 2378 | 1688 |
| Europe | 219 | 221 | 193 |
| Total Operating Revenue | 6911 | 6263 | 5193 |
Source: MasterCard 10-K Annual Report 2009 and Visa 10-K Annual Reports 2009, 2009, and 2007.
This case was prepared for inclusion in Sage Business Cases primarily as a basis for classroom discussion or self-study, and is not meant to illustrate either effective or ineffective management styles. Nothing herein shall be deemed to be an endorsement of any kind. This case is for scholarly, educational, or personal use only within your university, and cannot be forwarded outside the university or used for other commercial purposes.
2026 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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