Mastercard Brushes Off Omicron Threat After Profit Beat

Mastercard Brushes Off Omicron Threat After Profit Beat
A Mastercard logo is seen on a credit card in this picture illustration on Aug. 30, 2017. Thomas White/Reuters
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Mastercard Inc. beat quarterly profit estimates on Thursday as an uptick in international travel powered card spending and said a recent drag on cross-border travel from the Omicron variant was unlikely to persist.

Increased vaccinations and easing pandemic-related curbs had backed a recovery in spending, but rising COVID-19 infections from the Omicron variant pressured cross-border travel in the tail end of the fourth quarter and into January.