Visa, the world’s largest electronic payments network, on Wednesday reported higher third-quarter profit as consumers increasingly turned to credit, debit and charge cards to pay for goods and services.

Net income grew 73 per cent to $729m, or 97 cents a share, in the three months ending June 30, from $422m, or 51 cents a share a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Excluding the impact from the sale of the company’s stake in VisaNet do Brasil, adjusted quarterly net income was $507m, or 67 cents per share.