Big Marketers Like Mastercard, PepsiCo and Nissan Are Rethinking Pride Marketing
The financial services giant has supported Heritage of Pride, the nonprofit group that organizes the New York march and other area LGBTQ events, for around a decade, serving as a top-level 'platinum' sponsor and preferred payment partner for the past several years.
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Citizens JMP Raised the Firm's PT on Grindr Inc (GRND), Kept an Outperform Rating
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This story was originally published on To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily newsletter. Giulio Rindi, CFO for commercial and new payment flows at Mastercard, has spent more than a decade leading the company's global growth across Europe, international markets and now its expansion into new payment technologies. As CFOs know, as the payments landscape shifts, finance teams are expected to move faster, manage greater complexity and guide their companies through an unpredictable global economy. Rindi's role encompasses this, as he oversees the financial strategy behind Mastercard's efforts to modernize consumer and B2B payment flows, strengthen resilience and unlock new opportunities for the business. In this conversation with he reflects on the evolution of the CFO role, lessons from leading finance across multiple continents, how emerging payment trends are reshaping the finance function and managing the personal trade-offs that come with having a career path that has spanned the globe. Giulio Rindi CFO, commercial and new payment flows, Mastercard First CFO position: 2015 Notable previous employers: American Express Pirelli BDO This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. GIULIO RINDI: As far as financials and financial KPIs are concerned, we are very well organized and rely on very solid data sources, with consistency across the organization. When you are a global company, consistency is crucial. The real opportunity for many organizations now is to combine financial KPIs with operational KPIs. The reality is you have your financials in your ERP, sales-related data in your CRM and operational datasets in different systems. Bringing it all together is complicated. To have it available in real time and in a user-friendly dashboard is even more challenging. That's the next big opportunity for many organizations: Efficiently integrating financial and operational KPIs and connecting the dots across the business at 360 degrees. It's almost like a superpower to drive outcomes and efficient execution. We, like other big corporations, have very good control of the finances. But when you add operational KPIs to the financials, you gain true actionable insights: Why do we see certain trends? Which operational aspects of the business do we need to optimize? What should we invest in? How do we go to the market faster? For example, time-to-revenue is something we focus on a lot. You sign a deal with a customer after six, 12 or 18 months of negotiations, but then you might not see volumes or revenue materializing as per the business plan or contract terms. In a global organization with thousands of sales and business development people signing deals, I want to know if those deals are being executed. The connection between financial and operational KPIs gives you real-time visibility and the ability to drive execution excellence. In the consumer world, payments are now part of our daily lives. We have frictionless experiences, security and user-friendly digital interfaces. And then there is also an element of frequency — you're making certain payments often, and that smooths your experience and allows the industry to evolve faster. In B2B payments, it's more complicated. There is more friction, and therefore the modernization you are talking about is needed and points to the significant opportunity in front of us. We continue to invest in products and solutions that will make B2B payments and money movement domestically and internationally more efficient and frictionless. I'll give you one example: We have a proprietary virtual card solution that businesses can embed in their ERP systems. That is basically a way of managing payments directly through your ERP system. We are collaborating with key players in this space, as well as local ERPs, to make sure our solution is compatible and interoperable. Technology like this can help CFOs and treasurers manage accounts payable more efficiently. If you embed a virtual card solution in your ERP, you can manage payments in an automated way, you can drive working capital optimization, you can have more control and you can optimize your credit lines and expense base. These are the challenges we see corporations facing today globally, and our solutions are focused on making payments smarter and businesses stronger. I believe this is going to be the future. I cannot really connect stablecoin to immediate efficiency within the finance function. What I can say is, of course, we are looking at stablecoins as a business. We're also looking at crypto and blockchain. We work with our tech partners to decide where to invest. It goes back to capital allocation and investment prioritization. There are trends CFOs can't afford to miss. Finance needs to be on board. Stablecoins are one of those. We need to be there, we need to allocate capital and that's what we are doing. Then we will see how that technology will shape payments going forward. It's about investment prioritization, capital allocation and staying in the race. We can do that as a company, which is both great and exciting. First and foremost, collaboration is all about personal relationships. For me, it's about creating genuine connections with other CFOs, whether it's other business unit CFOs, divisional CFOs or regional CFOs, but also with corporate functions such as FP&A, investor relations, real estate, sourcing, tax and controllership. Building those relationships over time is fundamental. You can have all the tools and knowledge you want, but without those relationships, you move slowly and inefficiently. So in this case, it's not really about technology or processes. It's about the ability to connect at a personal level, to pick up the phone, to help your teams connect the dots. From there, you can develop tools or do ad hoc analysis, whether it's short-term or medium-to-long-term sustainable solutions. Sometimes in organizations, things are done without that clarity. Maybe there's a business unit agenda or a personal agenda and you can't put it in context. For me, it's simple: Shareholder and stakeholder interests come first. That works across geographies and cultures. Every time you change a company or a country, you need to adapt. There is an element of flexibility and adaptability. First, I think it's a privilege to be able to have all these opportunities. You need to be willing to embrace those because there is a price to pay from a personal standpoint. But it's very enriching — rewarding personally for your family, but also professionally. It also comes with the responsibility of leading larger teams across different geographies with different cultural backgrounds. But I have found it extremely intellectually stimulating. It's helped me grow significantly because you face different mindsets, cultures and approaches. It's all about super clear and crisp communication, a pragmatic approach, transparency and having the team's roles and responsibilities well defined. These are the key ingredients to support the delivery of the financial objectives and the execution of the strategy, and ultimately drive long-term sustainable shareholder value. I like to think of this like a stool with three legs. The legs are family, friends and professional career. Without one of those legs, you are unstable. "I grew up in Rome, Italy, and didn't move for the first eighteen years of my life. Friends were everything for me, so I understand the value of stability and strong friendships. For my children, it's complicated, but it's also enriching. They have a very unique perspective on the world now." Giulio Rindi CFO, Commerical and New Payment Flows, Mastercard Leaders often talk a lot about professional opportunity and growth. I'd say that's the easy part. But family and social life are critical. Business leaders who embrace these types of professional journeys need to have a partner who supports them, the adventures that come with it, and must be willing to make some sacrifices themselves. It's not easy to change jobs and countries every three or four years. I've noticed children are amazing at adapting. It's easier when they are younger, like 12 and under. It becomes more complicated and challenging for them after that. But again, it's a trade-off between giving them a broad perspective on the world versus more stability, which is also valuable. I grew up in Rome, Italy, and didn't move for the first 18 years of my life. Friends were everything for me, so I understand the value of stability and strong friendships. For my children, it's complicated, but it's also enriching. They have a very unique perspective on the world now. Friendships are another fundamental aspect. I try to invest quality time in keeping in touch with old friends and building many new friendships throughout the journey, everywhere we live. It's a different dynamic, but it's incredible. We live in a global world. We're all connected. It's easier now than when I left home. Back then, I didn't have an iPhone, a BlackBerry or even an email. Now it's easier to travel, easier to connect. So overall, it's a balancing act — a dance. You need all three legs of the stool to be very solid. 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Mastercard Incorporated Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Mastercard Incorporated price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Mastercard Incorporated Quote Mastercard's Q2 Operational Performance Gross dollar volume or GDV (representing the aggregated dollar amount of purchases made and cash disbursements obtained from Mastercard-branded cards) increased 9% on a local-currency basis to $2.6 trillion. The metric beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.9%. Cross-border volumes (a key measure that tracks spending on cards beyond the issuing country) rose 15% on a local currency basis. Switched transactions, which indicate the number of times a company's products have been used to facilitate transactions, improved 10% year over year to 43.5 billion. The metric missed the consensus mark by a whisker. Value-added services and solutions' net revenues of $3.2 billion advanced 23% year over year. Also, the same beat our model estimate of $2.9 billion. The year-over-year growth was driven by acquisitions, higher demand for consumer acquisition and engagement, as well as business and market insight services. Also, the scaling of its security and digital and authentication solutions and improving pricing strategies, aided the metric. Payment network rebates and incentives increased 17% year over year as a result of new and renewed deals. Mastercard's clients issued 3.6 billion Mastercard and Maestro-branded cards as of June 30, 2025. Adjusted operating expenses escalated 15% year over year to $3.3 billion due to increased general, administrative, advertising and marketing expenses. Adjusted operating income was $4.9 billion, which grew 18% year over year and beat our model estimate of $4.7 billion. The adjusted operating margin improved 50 basis points year over year to 59.9%. Mastercard's Financial Position (As of June 30, 2025) Mastercard exited the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $9 billion, which increased from the 2024-end level of $8.4 billion. Total assets of $51.4 billion increased from the $48.1 billion figure at 2024-end. Long-term debt amounted to $19 billion, up from the $17.5 billion figure as of Dec. 31, 2024. Total equity of $7.9 billion rose from the 2024-end level of $6.5 billion. Mastercard generated cash flows from operations of $7 billion in the first half of 2025, which advanced from the prior-year period's $4.8 billion. Mastercard's Capital Deployment Update Mastercard bought back 4.2 million shares for $2.3 billion in the second quarter. Quarter to date through July 28, it bought back another 1.8 million shares for $1 billion, leaving a buyback capacity of $9.3 billion. Mastercard paid out dividends worth $691 million in the quarter under review. Mastercard's 3Q25 Guidance Management projects adjusted net revenues to register high end of mid-teens growth on a year-over-year basis in the third quarter of 2025, while adjusted operating expenses are also anticipated to record high end of mid-teens growth. Mastercard's 2025 View Management now estimates adjusted net revenues to witness high end of mid-teens growth in 2025 from the 2024 figure. Adjusted operating expenses are also forecasted to witness high end of mid-teens growth from the year-ago figure. Mastercard currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. How Did Mastercard's Peers Perform? MA's peers like Visa Inc. V and American Express Company AXP have also reported results for the June quarter of 2025. Here's how they have performed: Visa reported third-quarter fiscal 2025 EPS of $2.98, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.86 by 4.2%, thanks to higher processed transactions, payments and cross-border volumes. However, the upside was partly offset by Visa's increased operating expenses. American Express reported second-quarter 2025 EPS of $4.08, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.7% on growing Card Member spending and a premium customer base. Rising revolving loan balances and continued robust card fee growth aided its performance. American Express' results were partially offset by escalating customer engagement and operating costs. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Mastercard Incorporated (MA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Visa Inc. (V) : Free Stock Analysis Report American Express Company (AXP) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
