American Express Company (AXP), Mastercard Inc (MA), Visa Inc (V): Who To Choose?

Visa is not only growing fast but also becoming increasingly profitable. Having beaten EPS expectations for the first quarter by almost 6%, I expect the company to grow EPS by more than 21% in 2013. Trading at a 23 P/E and with an expected 17.9% ROE, the company is worth its price. Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) is also performing well. The company did beat expectations (although barely), and trading at a 22 P/E is also a worthy investment. MasterCard has an amazing 42% ROE and has a very aggressive share repurchase plan of $2.3 billion in 2013, $2.4 billion in 2014 and $2.8 billion in 2015.

With great growth ahead Visa and MasterCard are not terribly expensive, but American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) also offers growth at a much better price. Besides, American Express’s cash dividend is significantly higher than the dividends offered by Visa and Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) (at 0.7% and 0.44%, respectively). If I had to chose, I would agree with Warren Buffett and go long on American Express Company (NYSE:AXP).

The article Credit Cards: Which One Should You Own? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Federico Zaldua.

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