Today in PYMNTS data, Visa earnings topped expectations, Mastercard saw positive outcomes and Apple underwhelmed market watchers in their recently released earnings reports. In addition, B2B venture capital (VC) went to FinTech firms and underbanked consumers and small businesses (SMBs) experienced banking hurdles.
Here are the numbers:
$4.9 billion | Visa’s revenue, according to its most recent earnings report for the first fiscal quarter, which ended in December 2017. Its results topped expectations, once impacts from recently passed tax legislation were factored out, including a bottom line at $1.08 per share and payment volumes up 10 percent to $1.9 trillion, among other notable numbers.
$3.3 billion | Mastercard’s fourth quarter sales, per the company’s latest earnings report, representing a 20 percent increase over last year’s figures. Consensus stood at $3.26 billion, and, excluding the aforementioned tax impact, earnings per share came in at $1.14, two pennies better than Wall Street expectations. Cross-border volume, switched transactions and gross volume also saw increases.
1.3 billion | Number of active, installed Apple devices as of January 2018. That’s an increase of 30 percent in two years, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook, which he calls a “testament to the popularity of [the company’s] products and the loyalty and satisfaction of [its] customers.” Apple reported revenue of $88.3 billion and a profit of $3.39 per share, compared to Wall Street predictions of $87.3 billion and profits of $3.86 per share.
$33.7 million | The amount of B2B VC FinTech funding allotted to corporate accounting, supply chain management and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) firms according to PYMNTS weekly B2B VC roundup. A closer look at the companies that landed the cash reveals some firms turning to sources other than VCs for their funds, including alternative small and medium-sized business lending platforms and a blockchain company too.
21 percent | The approximate number of underbanked people in the world, equivalent to about 1.6 billion individuals, per a report by financial services firm EY released earlier this month. More than 200 million micro firms and SMBs also fall into the underbanked category. Access to finance is the largest hurdle for many of these firms.