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5 Mobile Payment Stocks to Buy Now and Hold for Long-Term Gains
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Key Takeaways
Digital payment adoption is accelerating, fueled by convenience, security, and smartphone usage.
MA, V, PYPL, COF, and GDOT are expected to benefit from long-term growth in contactless payments.
Each pick shows rising earnings estimates, signaling momentum in the expanding digital payments space.
The rapid shift from cash to digital transactions, driven by a push toward convenience and security, has led to meteoric growth in mobile payments. The space encompasses a broad spectrum of innovations, including payment infrastructure and software services, as well as virtual wallets and smartcards.
As the adoption of digital payments becomes increasingly commonplace, the mobile payments market is anticipated to experience meteoric growth in the long term. A higher Internet penetration rate and increased usage of smartphones contribute to the growing uptake of digital payments. Whether paying for lunch, groceries, or high-end products and services, mobile payments are transforming everyday transactions.
Owing to the long-term benefits that such investments provide, the industry players have come up with diversified contactless payment options such as mobile wallets, biometrics and QR codes. Such initiatives will enable the players to solidify their presence in the global digital payments market, boost their customer base and diversify income streams.
The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks in the past six months.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Mastercard Inc.
Mastercard’s acquisitions are helping it to grow addressable markets and drive new revenue streams. We expect MA’s net revenue to rise 16% year over year in 2025. The accelerated adoption of digital and contactless solutions is providing an opportunity for MA’s business to expedite its shift to the digital mode. Strong cash flow supports its growth initiatives.
Mastercard is aggressively adopting AI technologies to enhance security and customer experiences. MA is using AI in five different aspects of its operations — first, fraud detection and prevention, second, optimization of the payment processing services, third, customer experience personalization, fourth, deeper analysis of customer behavior using predictive AI analytics tools and finally the use of high-end AI technologies to enhance merchant services.
Mastercard has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 15.1% and 11.8%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.1% in the last 30 days.
Visa Inc.
Visa’s strong market position is underpinned by consistent volume-driven growth, acquisitions and technological leadership in digital payments. Expansion in cross-border volumes, rising digital transactions, and investments in AI and stablecoin infrastructure enhance V’s prospects.
Visa’s strategic acquisitions and alliances are fostering long-term growth and consistently driving revenues. V is fueled by continued increases in payments, cross-border volumes and sustained investments in technology, and is witnessing significant profit growth.
The ongoing shift to digital payments is advantageous for Visa, with strong domestic volumes supporting its overall performance. With fraud cases on the rise and AI adoption increasing, V’s services are in high demand. V has embedded AI and generative AI into over 100 products, primarily for fraud prevention and cybersecurity.
Visa has invested $3.5 billion in rebuilding its data platform. V’s technology helps prevent $40 billion in fraud attempts annually. Through strategic diversification, innovation, and AI-driven security, V is well-positioned for long-term growth.
Visa has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 10.8% and 12.3%, respectively, for the current year (ending September 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.6% in the last 90 days.
PayPal Holdings Inc.
PayPal Holdings is benefiting from robust growth in total payment volume. Strengthening customer engagement on PYPL’s platform is a major positive. Venmo’s improving monetization efforts and rising adoption rate across various platforms are aiding total active accounts growth.
The solid momentum of core peer-to-peer and PayPal Checkout experiences is a tailwind. Well-performing merchant services are also a positive. Strengthening presence in both the United States and international markets is another catalyst. Accelerating transaction revenues of PYPL are likely to continue driving the top line.
PayPal is significantly leveraging AI across its platform to enhance fraud detection, personalized experience and operational efficiency. PYPL’s agentic AI ecosystem enables the company to simplify and streamline integration across all its services.
PayPal Holdings has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 4% and 12.5%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.2% in the last 30 days.
Capital One Financial Corp.
Capital One Financial’s top line has been driven by opportunistic buyouts over the year. The acquisition of Discover Financial has reshaped the landscape of the COF’s credit card business, leading to the formation of a behemoth.
Decent consumer loan demand amid relatively higher interest rates will support COF’s net interest income (NII). We project NII to rise 31.5% in 2025. Solid credit card and online banking operations are expected to aid the top line. We project COF’s revenues to witness a CAGR of 18.4% by 2027.
Capital One Financial has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 34.4% and 21.9%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.1% in the last seven days.
Green Dot Corp.
Green Dot is a pro-consumer bank holding company and personal banking provider. GDOT offers products and services directly to customers through a large-scale omni-channel national distribution platform. GDOT also allows third-party partners to access its banking and technology assets to offer their own financial services directly to consumers via private distribution platforms.
GDOT has three reportable segments — Consumer Services, B2B Services and Money Movement Services. Consumer Services revenues, derived from deposit account programs. B2B Services revenues are generated from partnerships with companies and payroll platform services. Revenues at the Consumer Services segment are transaction-based, derived from services that facilitate the movement of cash on behalf of consumers and businesses.
Green Dot has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 20.3% and -1.5%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.7% in the last 60 days.
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5 Mobile Payment Stocks to Buy Now and Hold for Long-Term Gains
Key Takeaways
The rapid shift from cash to digital transactions, driven by a push toward convenience and security, has led to meteoric growth in mobile payments. The space encompasses a broad spectrum of innovations, including payment infrastructure and software services, as well as virtual wallets and smartcards.
As the adoption of digital payments becomes increasingly commonplace, the mobile payments market is anticipated to experience meteoric growth in the long term. A higher Internet penetration rate and increased usage of smartphones contribute to the growing uptake of digital payments. Whether paying for lunch, groceries, or high-end products and services, mobile payments are transforming everyday transactions.
Owing to the long-term benefits that such investments provide, the industry players have come up with diversified contactless payment options such as mobile wallets, biometrics and QR codes. Such initiatives will enable the players to solidify their presence in the global digital payments market, boost their customer base and diversify income streams.
At this stage, we recommend five mobile payments stocks to buy and hold for the long term to strengthen your portfolio. These are: Mastercard Inc. (MA - Free Report) , Visa Inc. (V - Free Report) , PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL - Free Report) , Capital One Financial Corp. (COF - Free Report) and Green Dot Corp. (GDOT - Free Report) . Each of our picks carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks in the past six months.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Mastercard Inc.
Mastercard’s acquisitions are helping it to grow addressable markets and drive new revenue streams. We expect MA’s net revenue to rise 16% year over year in 2025. The accelerated adoption of digital and contactless solutions is providing an opportunity for MA’s business to expedite its shift to the digital mode. Strong cash flow supports its growth initiatives.
Mastercard is aggressively adopting AI technologies to enhance security and customer experiences. MA is using AI in five different aspects of its operations — first, fraud detection and prevention, second, optimization of the payment processing services, third, customer experience personalization, fourth, deeper analysis of customer behavior using predictive AI analytics tools and finally the use of high-end AI technologies to enhance merchant services.
Mastercard has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 15.1% and 11.8%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.1% in the last 30 days.
Visa Inc.
Visa’s strong market position is underpinned by consistent volume-driven growth, acquisitions and technological leadership in digital payments. Expansion in cross-border volumes, rising digital transactions, and investments in AI and stablecoin infrastructure enhance V’s prospects.
Visa’s strategic acquisitions and alliances are fostering long-term growth and consistently driving revenues. V is fueled by continued increases in payments, cross-border volumes and sustained investments in technology, and is witnessing significant profit growth.
The ongoing shift to digital payments is advantageous for Visa, with strong domestic volumes supporting its overall performance. With fraud cases on the rise and AI adoption increasing, V’s services are in high demand. V has embedded AI and generative AI into over 100 products, primarily for fraud prevention and cybersecurity.
Visa has invested $3.5 billion in rebuilding its data platform. V’s technology helps prevent $40 billion in fraud attempts annually. Through strategic diversification, innovation, and AI-driven security, V is well-positioned for long-term growth.
Visa has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 10.8% and 12.3%, respectively, for the current year (ending September 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.6% in the last 90 days.
PayPal Holdings Inc.
PayPal Holdings is benefiting from robust growth in total payment volume. Strengthening customer engagement on PYPL’s platform is a major positive. Venmo’s improving monetization efforts and rising adoption rate across various platforms are aiding total active accounts growth.
The solid momentum of core peer-to-peer and PayPal Checkout experiences is a tailwind. Well-performing merchant services are also a positive. Strengthening presence in both the United States and international markets is another catalyst. Accelerating transaction revenues of PYPL are likely to continue driving the top line.
PayPal is significantly leveraging AI across its platform to enhance fraud detection, personalized experience and operational efficiency. PYPL’s agentic AI ecosystem enables the company to simplify and streamline integration across all its services.
PayPal Holdings has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 4% and 12.5%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.2% in the last 30 days.
Capital One Financial Corp.
Capital One Financial’s top line has been driven by opportunistic buyouts over the year. The acquisition of Discover Financial has reshaped the landscape of the COF’s credit card business, leading to the formation of a behemoth.
Decent consumer loan demand amid relatively higher interest rates will support COF’s net interest income (NII). We project NII to rise 31.5% in 2025. Solid credit card and online banking operations are expected to aid the top line. We project COF’s revenues to witness a CAGR of 18.4% by 2027.
Capital One Financial has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 34.4% and 21.9%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.1% in the last seven days.
Green Dot Corp.
Green Dot is a pro-consumer bank holding company and personal banking provider. GDOT offers products and services directly to customers through a large-scale omni-channel national distribution platform. GDOT also allows third-party partners to access its banking and technology assets to offer their own financial services directly to consumers via private distribution platforms.
GDOT has three reportable segments — Consumer Services, B2B Services and Money Movement Services. Consumer Services revenues, derived from deposit account programs. B2B Services revenues are generated from partnerships with companies and payroll platform services. Revenues at the Consumer Services segment are transaction-based, derived from services that facilitate the movement of cash on behalf of consumers and businesses.
Green Dot has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 20.3% and -1.5%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.7% in the last 60 days.