Mastercard vs. Remitly Global: Which Financial Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?

Written by Pamela Kock for The Motley Fool->

Mastercard maintains a dominant position in the global payments ecosystem with net margins consistently near 46%.

Remitly Global is a high-growth disruptor in the international remittance market that recently achieved positive net income.

Does the stability of an established payments giant or the growth potential of a digital challenger offer a better opportunity for your portfolio?

As digital payments continue to evolve, investors must choose between established infrastructure and high-growth disruptors. Mastercard (NYSE:MA) and Remitly Global (NASDAQ:RELY) represent two distinct ways to play the ongoing shift toward electronic money movement.

Mastercard operates a massive global toll-booth for credit and debit transactions, while Remitly focuses specifically on the digital remittance needs of the world's migrant populations. Comparing these two companies reveals the trade-offs between a highly profitable industry leader and an agile, expanding fintech challenger.

Mastercard operates as a global payments technology giant among financial stocks, processing transactions for financial institutions, merchants, and governments across more than 200 countries. The company recently expanded its ecosystem by integrating stablecoin settlements across eight different blockchains to modernize money movement. It also introduced specialized tools, such as Agent Pay for automated machine payments, and a new personalized advertising platform, Mastercard Commerce Media.

In FY 2025, the company reported revenue of nearly $32.8 billion, representing a growth rate of approximately 16.4%. This performance supported a net income of roughly $15.0 billion for the fiscal year. The company maintained a consistent net margin of approximately 45.6%, showing its ability to convert a high percentage of revenue into profit.

As of its December 2025 balance sheet, the company reported a debt-to-equity ratio of nearly 2.5x. This metric compares total debt to shareholder equity, suggesting the company uses moderate leverage in its capital structure. The current ratio, which measures the ability to cover short-term debts with short-term assets, sits at roughly 1.0x, while the company generated free cash flow of approximately $16.9 billion for the year.

Remitly Global focuses on the international remittance market by providing a digital-first platform for migrants to send money to recipients in over 175 countries. The company manages more than 5,300 corridors with significant volume concentrated in India, Mexico, and the Philippines. To stay competitive, it recently integrated money transfer and rate comparison functionality directly into ChatGPT for users in several major markets.

During FY 2025, the business reached revenue of approximately $1.6 billion, which marked a significant increase of nearly 29.4% compared to the previous year. For the first time in recent years, the company achieved a positive net income of roughly $67.9 million. This resulted in a net margin of approximately 4.2%, a notable improvement from the net losses reported in both 2024 and 2023.

The December 2025 balance sheet shows a debt-to-equity ratio of roughly 0.3x, indicating low debt relative to shareholder equity. The current ratio of approximately 3.3x suggests the company has ample liquid assets to meet its upcoming obligations. Note that stock-based compensation accounted for roughly 47.7% of operating cash flow, thereby inflating reported cash generation, since SBC is a non-cash expense added back in the cash flow statement.

The company faces significant regulatory oversight, including potential caps on interchange fees and new data localization mandates. It also competes with large digital payment networks like Visa (NYSE:V) and emerging government-backed digital infrastructures. Cybersecurity remains a constant threat, and the industry continues to face scrutiny from U.S. regulators regarding its pricing structures and interchange fees.

The business depends on maintaining global money transfer licenses, which subjects it to complex anti-money laundering laws. It also relies on third-party disbursement partners, such as PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL), to complete transactions, which creates risks if these partners experience service interruptions. Intense competition from established giants like Western Union (NYSE:WU) could impact market share while the company navigates ongoing class action lawsuit investigations.

Remitly Global carries a higher forward P/E, which compares the stock price to future earnings estimates. Conversely, Mastercard's P/S ratio, which measures price against total sales, is significantly higher.

Sector benchmark uses the SPDR XLF sector ETF.Valuation metrics sourced from Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) and may differ from other data providers.

While both companies operate in the digital payments space, their stocks appeal to different types of investors. One is a smaller company with the potential for faster growth, while the other has competitive advantages and a strong track record of profitability. Which one belongs in investors’ portfolios this year?

Mastercard is well established and well known, operating one of the world’s largest payment networks. It processes payments on credit or debit accounts, but does not serve as a lender itself. It avoids direct credit risk while collecting transaction fees, resulting in a highly profitable business. Its margins are strong, its cash flow is consistent, and it has a network effect that keeps it fairly safe from competition.

Remitly focuses primarily on cross-border payments, making it the service of choice for many immigrants and those living and working abroad. It has been gaining market share and growing revenue, and it achieved profitability for the first time in FY 2025. Remitly is a much smaller company than Mastercard, so its continued success could mean significant gains for shareholders.

Neither stock is necessarily a bad choice. Still, Mastercard appears to offer a better balance of growth, profitability, and stability. Its long operating history and durable competitive advantages make it my choice of the two.

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Pamela Kock has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Mastercard, PayPal, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: short June 2026 $50 calls on PayPal. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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