Prepaid, Networks Grow In Mixed Week For Payments Stocks

The payments industry gained 0.24 percent on the stock market this week, aided by positive performances from the prepaid and network industries but limited by remittance results.

USA Technologies had the best performance of the week, jumping 12.95 percent to $2.18 after announcing new agreements with 10 existing customers. Ingenico joined USA Technologies as a POS equipment company with a good week, gaining 1.78 percent to hit 43.67 per share, while VeriFone continued its upward climb by gaining 2.5 percent to reach $31.60.

The prepaid industry had the strongest week of any subset of the payments industry, gaining 3.58 percent on the backs of a big performance by Green Dot. The company grew 8.77 percent to reach 13.89, and has grown steadily over the past three months. Fellow prepaid company NetSpend Holding, though, lost -1.89 percent to fall to $11.97.

The four major U.S. networks gained 58 percent as an industry, with MasterCard leading the charge, gaining 3.48 percent to hit $528.68 a share. Visa and American Express followed suit with gains of 2.8 percent and 2.73 percent, respectively, while Discover saw a more modest gain of .87 percent to reach $40.39.

The remittance industry performed poorly on the week, falling -0.34 percent with both companies losing value. MoneyGram international fell -0.29 percent to $13.89, while Western Union dropped -1.57 percent to $13.80.

The worst individual performance of the week fell to Online Resources Corp, dropping -4.09 percent to $2.11 a share.