New York, February 19, 2026, 14:50 EST — Regular session
- Visa shares slipped roughly 0.9% in afternoon trading, with Mastercard and AmEx ticking lower as well.
- Visa has struck a deal to acquire Argentina’s payment platforms Prisma and Newpay from Advent, though the companies haven’t released the terms.
- Attention shifts to deal approvals, plus U.S. inflation numbers due Friday.
Visa Inc slipped 0.9% to $317.35 on Thursday, trailing the news of its Argentina expansion deal. Mastercard dropped 2.1%, with American Express off about 1.6% during the session.
Visa has struck a deal to buy Argentina’s Prisma Medios de Pago and Newpay from Advent International, snapping up a set of core payments assets in the region. The purchase covers issuer processing—the technology behind card authorization and clearing for banks—plus rails for real-time payments, ATMs, and bill payments, according to the company. CEO Ryan McInerney described the acquisition as “an important step for Visa in Argentina.” Visa
Timing is key here—payment stocks have been moving lockstep with interest rate expectations and any hint on consumer spending patterns. Investors remain quick to react to policy moves that could ripple through the wider financial sector. The Federal Reserve’s January meeting minutes reflected a divided room: some policymakers stuck to their inflation concerns, others ready to talk rate cuts if price pressures ease.
Prisma, among Argentina’s top card-issuing platforms, handles upwards of six billion transactions annually for leading banks, Reuters reported. Advent’s entry came in 2019, buying into Prisma at a $1.42 billion valuation as Argentina sought to open up its payments landscape, Reuters noted.
Advent plans to keep Payway, the merchant acquiring operation spun off from the group, but will offload both Prisma and Newpay to Visa. “We believe Visa is well positioned,” Advent managing partner Juan Pablo Zucchini said in the statement, highlighting the ongoing growth for what’s left of the business. Business Wire
Visa expects the merger to accelerate the rollout of features like tokenization, swapping out card numbers for single-use digital tokens, along with biometric authentication and “intelligent risk” tech designed to catch suspicious transactions more quickly. The company also pointed to “agentic commerce,” aiming to drive further automation in payments and checkout. Visa
The companies kept the purchase price under wraps, so investors are left to estimate what kind of returns and integration expenses might be involved. The deal still faces closing conditions and needs regulatory sign-off. Visa also has to maintain smooth service as it brings core payments systems into its fold.
U.S. stocks slipped Thursday, with traders parsing a patchwork of economic data and retailer outlooks, as energy prices shifted on rising geopolitical risks. “Today (investors are) weighing… what Walmart’s earnings are saying in terms of the consumer,” said Chuck Carlson, CEO of Horizon Investment Services, speaking to Reuters. Reuters
Visa and rivals are all eyeing Friday’s Personal Consumption Expenditures inflation report—the Fed’s favored metric—for hints on how restrictive policy might remain through mid-year. Deal timing is also in focus, as Visa aims to wrap up its pending acquisition sometime in its fiscal second quarter.
