Wells Fargo sees Visa and Mastercard at the forefront of payments innovation

Investing.com -- Wells Fargo initiated coverage on 20 companies in the Payments, Processors & IT Services sector, highlighting Visa and Mastercard as key beneficiaries of structural trends in digital commerce. Both companies got Overweight ratings for their scale, profitability, and exposure to long-term growth themes.

The bank said market concerns over competition, crypto, and AI have depressed valuations across the sector, creating selective opportunities.

Visa and Mastercard, however, are well-positioned to benefit from these trends rather than be disrupted.

Both firms are active in the stablecoin and broader crypto ecosystem. Visa enables consumers to spend stablecoins globally through linked cards, while merchants receive local currency settlements.

Mastercard supports partners in issuing and redeeming stablecoins and integrating them into payments infrastructure, including cross-border and B2B transactions.

AI-driven commerce is another focus. Visa has launched Visa Intelligent Commerce, allowing AI agents to shop and transact on behalf of consumers securely, with real-time transaction oversight.


Mastercard’s Agent Pay program similarly uses tokenized credentials and authentication to enable safe agent-driven payments. Both companies are collaborating with major AI platforms, including Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic, to scale these capabilities.

Wells Fargo noted these initiatives reinforce Visa and Mastercard’s role as trusted intermediaries in evolving payment flows, including emerging areas like agentic commerce, crypto, and stablecoin payments.

The brokerage said their strong balance sheets, network scale, and technology adoption give them a durable competitive advantage as the payments industry adapts to new digital and AI-driven trends.

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