Visa’s fiscal third-quarter profits rise 9% as payments become increasingly digital WPXI [Video]

NEW YORK — (AP) — Payment processing giant Visa Inc. said Tuesday that its fiscal third-quarter profits rose 9% on an adjusted basis, as it benefits from consumers and businesses moving their payments from cash to credit and debit cards.

The San Francisco-based company said it earned $4.87 billion, or $2.40 a share, compared to a profit of $4.16 billion, or $2.00 a share, in the same period a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, Visa earned $2.42 a share, which was in line with what analysts had expected, according to FactSet.

Visa processed $3.325 trillion in transactions on its network during the quarter, up 7.4% from a year earlier. Much of the payments growth came from Europe and Latin America, but U.S. payments grew by 5.1%, which is faster than U.S. economic growth.

Visa earns a fee from every transaction processed on its network. That fee varies from industry to …