Top Fintech Data Companies to Watch in 2026

Visa (V), Mastercard (MA), and S&P Global (SPGI) each reported results in early 2026 that carry a common signal: all three companies are converting their core data assets into higher-margin, recurring revenue streams, with AI as the primary pricing and distribution lever. The shift is visible in their financials, not just their strategy presentations.

Visa: Value-Added Services Drive the Strongest Revenue Growth Since 2022

Visa reported Q2 2026 net revenue of $11.2 billion, a 17% year-over-year increase and the strongest net revenue growth since 2022. Earnings per share grew 20% year-over-year. The network processed 66 billion transactions in the quarter, up 9% year-over-year, on $3.7 trillion in payments volume.

The more consequential number sits in Value-Added Services. Visa's VAS segment, which includes fraud management, identity verification, consulting, and issuing solutions, grew 27% year-over-year and now represents 30% of total revenue. VAS revenue is software-like in character: it rides the existing network without requiring proportional growth in transaction volume. That mix shift is central to Visa's platform story. For the full breakdown, see the [Visa Q2 2026 earnings breakdown](/podcasts/V_Q2_2026).

Visa's Stablecoin Settlement Infrastructure

Visa's stablecoin footprint expanded materially in Q2. The company now operates over 160 stablecoin card programs globally, with stablecoin payment volume growing nearly 200% year-over-year. Annual stablecoin settlement volume reached $7 billion, up more than 50% from the prior quarter, with activity spanning nine blockchains. For a network historically built on legacy payment rails, those figures indicate Visa is constructing parallel settlement infrastructure at meaningful scale.

Mastercard: Agentic Commerce as the Next Transaction Layer

Mastercard reported Q1 2026 net revenue growth of 12% and net income growth of 15% year-over-year on a currency-neutral basis, with earnings per share of $4.60. The headline figures reflect steady execution, but the structural story is in Mastercard's agentic commerce buildout.

The company has enabled nearly all Mastercards globally for Agent Pay, its agentic commerce infrastructure, developed in partnership with OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. Agent Pay is designed to let AI agents execute purchases autonomously on behalf of users, a category that requires identity verification, fraud controls, and settlement rails that Mastercard already operates. The partnerships position Mastercard as the payment infrastructure layer for a commerce model that does not yet have established incumbents.

Cross-Border Headwind Underscores the Diversification Rationale

Cross-border travel volume growth, which ran at 8% earlier in 2026, slowed to 2% in the first four weeks of April due to geopolitical headwinds. That deceleration illustrates why Mastercard has been expanding beyond transaction-volume-dependent revenue. The data and services layer, including stablecoin B2B payment flows through the BVNK acquisition, provides revenue streams with less direct exposure to cyclical travel patterns. See the [Mastercard Q1 2026 earnings breakdown](/podcasts/MA_Q1_2026) for the full picture.

S&P Global: AI-Native Data Monetization in Practice

S&P Global reported Q1 2026 revenue growth of 10% year-over-year, with 9% organic constant currency growth. Adjusted diluted EPS rose 14%, and the company recorded 140 basis points of trailing twelve-month margin expansion. S&P Global also repurchased $1 billion in shares during the quarter. These results reflect a business expanding operating leverage while investing in AI data infrastructure.

The AI data monetization story at S&P Global is the most legible of the three companies. API call volumes were 5 times higher in Q1 2026 than in the prior quarter, and doubled month-over-month from February to March alone. S&P Global now has over 300 customers contracted or in trial for its AI-ready APIs.

Pricing Premiums Signal Early Monetization

Two financial clients paid price premiums of 35% to 45% above standard rates to receive data in AI-ready formats. That pricing differential is a concrete signal that the format of financial data, not just its content, carries incremental value for AI-native workflows. S&P Global has integrated its data into model context protocol, the technical standard that allows AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT to access external data sources directly. That integration places S&P Global financial data inside AI application workflows rather than in a separate research portal.

The Ratings division posted 13% revenue growth in Q1 2026, partly driven by hyperscaler debt issuance tied to AI infrastructure buildout. That dynamic adds another connection between AI capital spending trends and S&P Global's core business lines.

A Shared Infrastructure Pivot

The convergence across Visa, Mastercard, and S&P Global is structural. Visa is building stablecoin settlement rails across nine blockchains while monetizing fraud and identity software on top of its existing network. Mastercard is integrating its card infrastructure into agentic commerce flows alongside the largest AI development platforms. S&P Global is packaging its financial data for direct consumption by AI systems and has already secured a measurable pricing premium for the format.

In each case, the value-added layer, not the core transaction or rating, is where growth is accelerating most. The 2026 results indicate the transition from volume-dependent infrastructure to AI-native data platforms is generating measurable revenue. The structural opportunities each company is building toward, whether agentic commerce rails, stablecoin settlement, or AI-ready financial data APIs, represent durable expansions of addressable revenue beyond traditional payment processing and data licensing.

Listen to the Full Earnings Breakdowns

• Visa Q2 2026: $11.2 billion in revenue, 17% growth, 27% VAS expansion, and $7 billion in annual stablecoin settlement volume across nine blockchains
• Mastercard Q1 2026: EPS of $4.60, Agent Pay enabled globally with OpenAI/Google/Microsoft, and context on the cross-border travel deceleration
• S&P Global Q1 2026: 5x API volume growth quarter-over-quarter, 300+ AI-ready API customers, and 35%-45% pricing premiums on AI-formatted data