Visa charges token fees Mastercard does not; UBS sizes the gap before their Oct. 27 and Oct. 29 earnings
UBS says fees on payment tokens could add a low-single-digit contribution to net revenue growth at both card networks, and Visa has announced fees Mastercard has not. Earnings on October 27 and 29 give the first reading.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
At participating BILL customers, an AI agent can now approve an invoice, walk into the supplier portal at Billtrust and pay it end to end. The pilot Visa announced on October 21 does not hand the agent a card number 1. It hands over a token, the stand-in credential that hides card details, and Visa+1.72% — Visa, up 1.72 percent today says the pilot is live and processing transactions 1.
The toll, priced
Analysts at UBS, the Swiss bank, estimate tokenization revenue could contribute a low-single-digit percentage to net revenue growth at both Visa and Mastercard+1.67% — Mastercard, up 1.67 percent today over the medium term, landing in Visa's value-added services line and Mastercard's value-added services and solutions segment 2. Against the year-ago quarters, one point of growth is worth roughly $102 million a quarter at Visa and $81 million at Mastercard 910.
Visa's contribution is already moderately higher, UBS says, because it has fees on the schedule Mastercard lacks: fees on tokenized card-present transactions in the US, a 2027 increase to its Digital Commerce Service Fee, and that fee's expansion into Europe the same year 2. UBS calls its numbers a first framework, and warns that rebates to partners can claw the fees back 2.
Both networks put stablecoin rails into production
Mastercard's counter shipped days earlier. Global Money Platform, the first major build on its $1.8 billion BVNK acquisition closed in August, holds fiat and stablecoins side by side behind one API, with Nuvei and Marqeta+3.42% — Marqeta, up 3.42 percent today among the first integrators 47. It added Stablecoin Security, a fraud screen for blockchain-bound funds, building on the screening launch covered here this week 7. Visa moved its own Visa Direct stablecoin prefunding out of pilot on October 15: processor Inyo Global's clients can prefund cross-border payouts with USDC in near real time 3.
The token toll rides a revenue base still growing mid-teens
- Visa
- Mastercard
Data
| Visa | Mastercard | |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 '23 | $8.61B | $6.53B |
| Q4 '23 | $8.63B | $6.55B |
| Q1 '24 | $8.78B | $6.35B |
| Q2 '24 | $8.9B | $6.96B |
| Q3 '24 | $9.62B | $7.37B |
| Q4 '24 | $9.51B | $7.49B |
| Q1 '25 | $9.59B | $7.25B |
| Q2 '25 | $10.17B | $8.13B |
| Q3 '25 | $10.72B | $8.6B |
| Q4 '25 | $10.9B | $8.81B |
| Q1 '26 | $11.23B | $8.4B |
| Q2 '26 | $11.63B | $9.28B |
The detour pays 4.40%
The same week the toll was priced, SoFi−1.21% — SoFi, down 1.21 percent today Bank, a US national bank, launched SoFi Earn, a tokenized deposit paying a 4.40% annual yield, FDIC-insured, convertible one-for-one into SoFiUSD, the stablecoin that already settles SoFi's card program over Mastercard's network 5. Money that earns bank interest and moves on blockchain rails never buys a network token, and Mastercard's own platform lists tokenized deposits as a coming supported form of money, which puts the network on both sides of the toll 4.
The bypass camp is not the whole story. KeyBanc notes that guidance from a consortium of large banks this year calls for tokenized credentials and enforcement of network rules, which the analysts say supports the toll: the banks are asking for the tokens 7. An Axios report of late-stage Visa talks to buy the custody firm Fireblocks for about $2.5 billion drew the reply "This is news to us, and not true"; Visa declined to comment 67.
Tuesday, then Thursday
Visa reports after the close on Tuesday October 27, Mastercard on Thursday October 29 with a 9 a.m 78. ET call 78. The tell is value-added services growth and any tokenization disclosure; Visa shares are already up about 20% since late October 2025, Mastercard about 11% 7. The agent pays with a token now; next week shows what the token pays the network.
What happens next
MAHow fast is value-added services growth, and does Visa disclose tokenization revenue?
The case for
Tokenization fees could add a low-single-digit percentage to net revenue growth at both networks, worth about $102 million a quarter per point at Visa
The case against
UBS warns rebates to partners can claw the token fees back, and calls its own figures a first framework
- Tue Oct 27, after the closeVisa earnings, after the close.
- Thu Oct 29, 9:00 a.m. ET callMastercard earnings with a 9 a.m. ET call. Does Mastercard disclose tokenization fees of its own?
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