MasterCard and Visa, the world’s two largest credit card networks, are so far resisting the effects of the US economic slowdown by focusing on overseas business and a growing preference for credit and debit cards over cash and cheques.

Visa this week reported a 41 per cent rise in fiscal third-quarter profit to $422m as payment volumes, transactions and the number of cards in Visa’s network grew in every region the card issuer is active in.