Mastercard’s fintech bet pays off with higher card spending

Mastercard Inc.’s new initiative to team up with more startups on credit cards is beginning to pay off.

The company has been initiating card programs for fintechs including Brex Inc., Revolut Technologies Inc. and TransferWise Inc., and has unveiled programs designed to make it easier for startups to join Mastercard’s network. That helped boost customers’ spending on the firm’s cards to $1.28 trillion in the quarter, up 11% from a year earlier and in line with analysts’ estimates.

“The solution that Mastercard brings is more holistic than just saying, ‘We’ll switch the transaction for you,’” Chief Financial Officer Sachin Mehra said in a telephone interview Wednesday.