Mastercard Kicks Into Overdrive

Mastercard (NYSE: MA) is tired of being seen as second fiddle in the payment network industry, and it's striving to become the top dog in payments. With an emphasis on new technology, Mastercard believes that it can gain an edge both over its historical archrival and newer players in the payment space. So far, that's been a solid strategy, but the competition among payment-services providers has only gotten fiercer in recent years.

Coming into Tuesday's third-quarter financial report, Mastercard investors were optimistic that the card company would continue to post double-digit percentage gains on the top and bottom line, riding the trend toward greater use of electronic payments solutions. Mastercard's results were even better than most had hoped, and the company has confidence that it's following a smart strategy toward maximizing its growth opportunities. Let's take a closer look at Mastercard to see what's ahead for the payment giant.

Image source: Mastercard.

Source: Fool.com