Which company is the parent of the global payment networks Visa and Mastercard?

Neither Visa nor Mastercard is the parent of the other; they are separate publicly traded companies.

Visa and Mastercard each operate global payment networks that connect cardholders, merchants, banks, and payment processors. Their networks authorize and route transactions, while banks and other financial institutions generally issue the cards.

Visa became an independent public company after its 2008 initial public offering. Mastercard, originally known as Master Charge before adopting its present name, also operates as an independent listed corporation. Both have at times ranked among the world’s most valuable companies by market capitalization.

A common misunderstanding is that the network owns every card carrying its logo. In practice, a bank may issue a Visa or Mastercard, while the network supplies transaction infrastructure. The two companies compete with one another rather than sitting in a parent-subsidiary relationship.