TD Bank review (2025): Nationwide branch and ATM access, plus 24/7 customer service
Summary: TD Bank is a major U.S. bank that serves over 10 million customers through its retail, small business, and commercial banking products. Its products include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, lending, and investing products. TD Bank operates over 1,100 branches nationwide and a network of 2,600 ATMs.
This account is free to open and offers multiple ways to waive the $15 maintenance fee. The Complete Checking account doesn't earn interest, but does offer other perks such as online and mobile banking with Bill Pay, a free Visa® debit card, and 24/7 live customer service.
The TD Beyond Checking account is another account option that's free to open, though it does charge a slightly higher monthly maintenance fee of $25. The good news is, there are ways to waive this fee if you meet certain requirements. This account is an interest-bearing account.
The TD Essential Banking account offers the lowest monthly maintenance fee ($4.95, waived for primary account holders aged 13 to 17), no minimum daily balance requirement, and no overdraft fees. This account does not earn interest.
Read more: The 10 best free checking accounts available today
TD Bank's most basic savings account charges a monthly maintenance fee of $5, though it can be waived by maintaining a minimum daily balance of $300. This is an interest-bearing account and includes optional services such as mobile check deposit, free direct deposit, a free ATM card, free online statements, and 24/7 live customer service.
This is a tiered interest savings account that offers higher rates on higher balances. There's a monthly fee of $15 that can be waived by meeting certain requirements. This account also offers free incoming wire transfers, official bank checks, money orders, and stop payments.
TD Bank's CDs have terms ranging from three months to five years and require a minimum opening deposit of just $250. While the standard APY for a TD Bank CD is 1%, relationship rates can be as high as 4%.
TD Bank offers a number of different credit cards, including balance transfer cards, rewards credit cards, cash-back cards, credit cards with no annual fee, and low introductory APR credit cards.
Customers who are looking to purchase a home, renovate their current home, or refinance their existing home loan can take advantage of TD's home lending products.
With the TD Bank Fit Loan, customers can borrow $2,000 to $50,000 with terms ranging from 36 months to 60 months. Interest rates range from 8.99% to 23.99% APR and there are no origination fees, application fees, or prepayment penalties.
TD offers five different types of accounts for those who want to boost their retirement savings, including IRAs and IRA CDs.
Here's a look at some of the fees you might encounter as a TD Bank customer:
Read more: What are bank fees, and how do I avoid them?
Before becoming a customer, you should be aware of a few major pros and cons of banking with TD Bank.
Pros:
Large branch and ATM network: TD Bank operates over 1,100 branches nationwide and a network of 2,600 ATMs, which is a bonus for customers who prefer a face-to-face banking experience or need to make frequent deposits and withdrawals.
24/7 customer service: TD Bank offers 24/7 live customer support, so you can always get a real person on the line to answer your questions.
Cons:
Lower yields on savings accounts and CDs than competitors: Compared to other banks and credit unions, TD's savings and CD rates aren't the most competitive on the market. If you're on the hunt for the highest possible APY, it may pay to shop around.
High overdraft fee: At $35 per transaction and up to three overdraft fees per day, TD Bank's overdraft fee is on the higher end.
TD Bank representatives are available via phone and app 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
TD Bank's mobile app is available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play and has a user rating of 4.8 and 4 stars, respectively. Customers can use the app to view account balances and activity, deposit checks, pay bills, send money via Zelle, transfer money between accounts, and more.
As part of its 'The Ready Commitment,' TD Bank has committed to supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy by targeting net-zero emissions by 2050 and committing $75 billion by 2030 to help clean economic growth. It has also pledged to create more green spaces in the communities it serves.
Read more: What is sustainable banking?
Yes. TD Bank is an FDIC-insured bank offering coverage up to the federal maximum of $250,000 per depositor, per ownership category.
Your TD Bank routing number depends on the state where you opened your account. You can find your routing number by calling TD Bank, reviewing your bank statement or checks, or by logging into your TD Bank mobile app.
Yes. TD Bank customers can use Zelle to make transfers, send money to family and friends, and more.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
US consumers are cautious but still spending: Visa economist
You can catch Opening Bid on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. The US economy is showing mixed trends at best as the Trump administration continues to overhaul the global trading system. First quarter GDP fell 0.3%, but is expected to bounce back slightly in the second quarter. Consumer confidence has been on a downtrend. And the world's biggest consumer companies, including Walmart, Target, and Starbucks, have warned about sluggish spending trends by households. On the flip side, the stock market has recovered from the Liberation Day lows, which has helped to support sentiment among some households. So, where is the economy headed next, given the whirlwind of factors it's facing? Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi talks on the Opening Bid podcast with Visa Chief Economist Wayne Best. Best is an economics veteran, armed with everything from insights on consumer spending from Visa (V) card swipes to the impact on the economy from the wealth effect of higher stock prices. Sozzi and Best discuss the economy's biggest challenges and potential surprises. For full episodes of Opening Bid, listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch on our website. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is produced by Langston Sessoms Welcome to a new episode of the Opening Bid podcast. I'm Yahoo! Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi. Like I always say, this is a podcast will make you a smarter investor, period, and you're going to get smarter on all things, uh, economy here at this very pivotal moment for the US economy. Joining me now is Visa chief economist Wayne Best. Wayne, good to see you. It's been a while. Last time I saw you in our Yahoo! headquarters in New York City, you came with a bunch of charts and tables, so, um, welcome back. Appreciate it. Thanks very much. Glad to be here. So you are, um, you're very much a world traveler. I mean, you don't get a lot of rest, and you were just talking to me off camera, what is your GDP forecast right now? Um, so for this year, uh, our forecast is 1.3. Um, so down from 2.8, obviously last year. We're getting over the the the stimulus led, um, COVID issues that created some of the challenges, and those are pretty much all gone now. The excess savings has gone by the consumers. Uh, so we have a slower growth path. We knew that was going to happen. Actually, it was part of our longer-term forecast as we think about the potential growth of this economy, which is, frankly, very much determinate based on the size of the labor force. Uh, so our potential growth is now around 2%. Um, it's similar to other advanced economies are also being held back because of the size of the labor force. Japan's around 1%. Uh, the EU is about 1.3, 1.4%, so a slower level of growth, and we need to put ourselves in that mindset. We're not going to be growing at three, four, 5% anymore. Those days are long gone for good. Um, I don't see them turning around substantially. Uh, you know, we got 11,600 people turning 65 every day between now and the end of this decade. We're not having that many kids. In most advanced economies, they aren't. So it really all comes down to immigration and what the outlook for that looks like. Now, there may be some advancements in AI, and we can go there in terms of the potential improvements, but that's still several years off before we see really any material change that allows for the workforce to be more productive. Maybe Elon's right. We just need to have more kids. But this has to be This would be this has to have been a tough year, uh, to be an economist. I mean, I see it you know, through the prism of analyst estimates on Wall Street. You know, I've seen because at the height of the trade war, um, liberation day, April 2nd, estimates were being slashed. Now they're starting to creep up as we have more certainty on, um, you know, on trade policy, but I imagine you've had to make a lot of revisions and and changes to what you do. Yeah. So my team, Business and Economic Insights at Visa, uh, we forecast the economy. We're usually rated pretty high in terms of the rankings of it, which is quite surprising given that the staff size is four people, uh, for the US side. That's a lot of productivity from that staff group. A lot of productivity. They're they're very efficient, uh, but we also have some pretty good data, too. So that helps us out along. Our forecast hasn't materially changed really for most of this year starting back in January when we expected the economy to grow somewhere under 1.5% but above 1%, and we're settling in now at about 1.3. But yes, we did have a number of different revisions that did occur. Um, I think we're upwards of 47, 48 revisions as a result of the various factors, but those were elements of it. Impact from tariffs, impact for potential impact on inflation in those particular aspects, which I think, uh, uh, are creating a lot of the volatility, but the headline number of 1.3 is pretty close. Have you ever had to revise anything 47 or 48 times in your career? Never. And you've been doing this for almost 40 years? Yeah, exactly. 35 years. So it's interesting that COVID we were revising things pretty much weekly, uh, and that was a really challenging time, too, with even more uncertainty in my mind about what the future would hold, whether you'd be able to leave your house, and jeez, am I ever going to be able to take a vacation again to to Europe, for example. But this time has just been so volatile because of the on again off again nature of some of these tariffs and the potential impact of those on inflation and other aspects of the economy. I really admire what you do, and you do tremendous work, but you also have really direct insight into the economy through card swipes, credit cards, debit cards. Like, what are those swipes telling you right now about the economy? Well, we take that data, and we couple it to a model that we created called a spending momentum index, which allows us to look at the number of people that are out there spending and whether or not they're spending more or less. And that's a really critical factor. Through some work that we did with Stanford's, uh, economics department years ago, if you look at the growth in say retail sales of a store, nearly 80% of that growth comes from more people showing up versus the 20% where people are actually spending more. So as we look at those numbers, we're sitting for the last couple of years now below 100. So fewer people out there spending more. People are out spending by all means, but not quite the pace that we saw previously. In the last report that we came out with for, uh, the month of April, uh, we showed that non-discretionary related expenditures had actually tipped above 100. So these are things that, you know, you have to have, gas, groceries, uh, um, Other necessities. Yeah, other necessities types of things. So, um, the data's holding up, you know, and and and I think it's been really consistent all through the last four or five months. You know, we go back to December, for example, very strong holiday season. A lot of the spending that happened during that period of time was really related to tariffs. People had an expectation that tariffs were going to cause things to be more expensive, and they started advancing those purchases in December and January and February. Discretionary purchases, things that are nice to have, were very much, uh, quite strong. And this is, you know, the furniture and the appliances and these types of factors. And I think that really led to a pretty large spike in the amount of spending that we saw in the first quarter of this year. Now, of course, we're going to have to pay some of that back, right? Because if I bought a refrigerator in February, Don't need another refrigerator. Don't need another one. And so that causes some of the slowdown that we expect to see over the next couple of quarters, especially in many of those durable goods, things designed to last longer than three years. I recently talked to Walmart CFO, um, John David Rainey, after they reported earnings. Now he told me that price hikes related to tariffs will start, uh, at the end of May. Are you see and in some cases, double digits. Have you seen any inflation through the prism of card swipes? Because I imagine you buy something. Of course, that reflects the price on that good. Have you have you seen any signs that inflation is starting to pick up? You know, we really haven't at this point. And let's remember consumers and businesses are pretty darn smart. They have tools that are available to them now that they never had before. If something goes up in price, I can look at something else. Now, online and find it at a lesser price. Maybe I don't want this particular item coming from a country that has a higher tariff that would cause that price to go up. People price shop and comparison shop even more so now than anything that we saw in the previous decade. And I think that's going to allow for a lot of, uh, consumer know-how in terms of keeping those prices well in check. If we look at the direct impacts of tariffs, uh, we modeled that to be about 1.2 percentage points. So quite simply, uh, the PCE deflator running at about 22, we think will come out, uh, later this week. Um, so 34 kind of a number. All right. Well, but that's not how it all works. First off, our growth estimates said that these tariffs would remain at those elevated levels for a period of three months. We were one of the few people that were actually determining that this was going to be much more short-lived. And why? Put a lot of deals in the wall, let's see how many end up, uh, lasting. That's, uh, the administration's, uh, uh, mantra. And that's exactly what's been happening. So we have several factors that caused that indirect impact to inflation. One of it is price shopping. People are going to find a different way. Some of it is, um, businesses are going to route goods through a a channel that allows them to bring in the goods cheaper. Uh, and so there will be some retail margin hit also. You couple that with those tariff duration of three months at these levels, uh, and you end up with a indirect inflation impact of .2. So if we are right on the PC deflator coming out at 22, uh, then be 24. So, yeah, that's kind of a drag. You know, it's a little higher, but it's not runaway inflation, which I think was a lot of the fear that happened and the uncertainty prior to that. I hear a lot of, uh, a lot of CEOs have been telling me, uh, within the consumer space they've seen consumers pull back. What income demographics are pulling back? I when I hear the CEO of Coca-Cola, uh, James Quincey, he told me consumers are pulling back on on their purchase. I think of Coca-Cola as a soda. It's a necessity for some people. Is it those lower income households that are getting hit the most right now because of the tariffs? Well, first off, the good news is in this economy, basically everybody's working. You know, we have a very low unemployment rate. Uh, we actually It's at 4.1, 4.2. We're going to see it growing to maybe 4.5% on a on an individual month basis, but that's still considered full employment. Um, it's the uncertainty factor that causes different income groups to probably pull back a little bit more. I'm not sure if I'm going to have a job in the future. So maybe I should cut back on some of that type of spending. One of the saving areas that we see is, um, that has helped consumers, especially in the lower income consumer bracket. And what do they spend their money on? They spend it on accommodations, a place to live, gas, and food. Well, gas prices have come down quite noticeably, not necessarily in California where I live. They just permanently stay there. Just always at those levels. Exactly. But elsewhere, they have come down pretty dramatically, and that lower levels of gas prices, which is one of the key things as we talk about the south, that's one of the key things that they buy relative to other, uh, parts of the United States. They don't have as much, uh, transportation options, and so they have to drive their car. So that helps them in terms of having the ability to spend in other categories. But yes, I think the low and middle income households they're they're being more cautious. I think that's the aspect that we see right now. Maybe I don't need that extra steak, or maybe I'm going to switch out for certain things depending on prices, and maybe I'm certainly not eating eggs right now or now just starting to again because of the price. Egg eaters, you just have to fake it. That's right. All right. Hang with us. When we go off for a quick break, we'll be right back on Opening Bid. Welcome back to Opening Bid. Of course, this is a new episode at the Nasdaq in Times Square. Having a great chat here at Visa chief economist Wayne Best. You are really focused right now on the south or the southern part of United States. What are what's the state of the economy as seen through the prism of of the Southern states? So, um, you know, when we we've been studying, uh, through our research different generations, demographic groups, for example, we've studied homeowners. We've studied, uh, Gen Z and millennials and boomers and other aspects. And in every one of those cases, these are generational trends that tend to span decades. But one of the things that we just discovered was the explosive level of growth that we're seeing in the population, spending, and other aspects in the south, the southern part of the United States. Uh, population change was 5.6% growth, well exceeding what we saw in other regions. That's since 2020. Well exceeding what we saw in other regions, very strong growth. And if we look at where that growth came from, some of it was people moving from other states moving into the south. Yeah. I look at my parents. They they moved to Florida five or six years ago, and all they do is go out to eat every day. I mean, they have a nest egg, and they're just loving their life. Well, people moved from New York down to Florida. People moved from California to Texas. A lot of immigration, domestic migration, specifically, um, and that was pretty profound during that period of time. Uh, but there was also And actually, if you look at the growth of the south in terms of the population, nearly 84% of it came from international migration. Obviously, close to the border as part of that. And while international migration did occur throughout the United States, it was much more concentrated in the south. And so you have those aspects of a population size that's changing. So that's the the first element. The other element is because of these new entrants coming in, you need more types of stores. You need more places that they're going to be able to spend, whether it be grocery stores, etc. Over the last five years, nearly 78% of all the jobs created in the United States were in the south. Now that's pretty profound. 78 in 16 states. So not not in Silicon Valley. Not in Silicon Valley. Exactly. It's all been in the south, 78% of it. That's a big number. Very big. And as a result, and you look at the shift over time in terms of the types of jobs those people are are taking on, the whole south has transformed themselves from a couple of decades ago. Um, 18% of the south was, uh, manufacturing. Now it's down to 8%. We've seen growth in more higher value-added jobs. So professional services is one example, better paying jobs, and it's allowed for the standard of living to continually increase in the south, which has certainly been beneficial for that group also. We've seen, um, of course, the Trump administration very focused on bringing back jobs to the US via manufacturing. You know, as you look out over the next decade, how will that change in jobs and and how we grow in the US? How does that change the dynamics of the US economy? Well, I think it has a lot to do with, uh, you know, where the people are at, what are they attracted to. I mean, people moving to the south and that migration domestically has come from, uh, cheaper houses and lower taxes. These have been factors that allow those consumers in the south to save more of their money. They have more of their money available to be able to spend, save, and pay down debt. Uh, it's getting warmer there also. So, you know, I think initially everyone thought everyone was going to move up north because of the temperatures, but the opportunities are what are really starting to show and and play out in terms of the, uh, job prospects as well as the recreational activities that are available in the south also. Do we have the labor supply in this country to support a a new manufacturing boom? Um, I think if we have some additional, uh, immigration, a little bit more free flowing of immigration, uh, we could see some resurgence in certain categories. The United States has always found a way to continually innovate and figure out new ways to make things more effective and productive. So maybe robots will be doing some of that manufacturing. I mean, that's not a far stretch based on what we're seeing today, uh, allowing us to still maintain a very good standard of living, um, because manufacturing jobs, very well paid, but, you know, these aren't the professional jobs, consulting jobs, etc. that are are much higher paid. So you have to figure out a way to make that all work, and other types of either AI or robots or other, uh, uh, areas may be the the trick there. Anthropics founder, um, recently said that AI could get rid of 50% of white collar jobs. Are you a buyer of that? Is that possible? I think that that's a big number. That's a big number, Wayne. That's a big number. Yeah. I mean I mean, I think there's certain types of jobs that are apt to be able to take advantage of the AI, you know, graphics designers. Uh, we have a a picture of an elephant and a We wanted a picture of an elephant in a in a grocery store aisle to talk about GLPs and and the impact that they're having on the grocery business. Um, well, there is no picture of an elephant in a grocery store aisle. So we generated one through AI. I mean, this is an example of of an extreme example. But there are types of jobs. Those jobs that are much more computer centric, um, will allow for some of those jobs to either be replaced or maybe make them more efficient. If you look at a salesperson, for example, over 60% of their time is spent on back office functions instead of really getting out there and selling. So maybe we have more sales people on the front line and more of the back office being handled by some of the AI generated tools that are available. So that that is not I mean, 50% reduction in white collar workforce. That's just not It's not realistic. I I don't think it's realistic under the current environment. First off, we have to see many businesses start to adopt AI and change their business practices to make it efficient and make it work. And that's not an easy thing to do. If I'm have, uh, somebody that used to capture the notes from a business meeting and then sent out those notes afterwards, and now that's being done via AI. Um, that's great. But what is that person doing with their time that they've just saved? Are they shopping online at work? Well, that isn't saving a whole lot of time. So business processes are really going to have to shift. And for large businesses, that's very challenging, you know, changing the flow of information and what you do, etc., um, and the impact from that will take several years at least. Uh, we'll see some carve outs at the edges. We're already seeing a lot of the advances in the coding area, uh, computer coding and programming, and I think that will be a part of it. So we'll see some advances and continued advancements there. Uh, but the other aspects are are at least two to three years out. And for many businesses, the only way they'll be able to incorporate a lot of those changes is to buy a company that already is doing it, uh, and then figure out how to put that into your organization to make it more effective. In the last few minutes of the podcast, we always love to get a hot take from our guest. Um, so my question for you is this, you know, I joked earlier on about Elon suggesting we need to all have kids, um, or more kids. When is when is the fact that we're not having children or not having enough children? When does that show up in the economic data? And what does that do to the country's economy, uh, to our economy, if not the world's economy, looking out over the next few decades? Well, it it it creates a lot of challenges because, you know, let's face it, um, true or false, kids are expensive. Uh, you spend a lot of money on them, um, and now I'm a grandparent of two, uh, five month and five year old, uh, and we're spending a lot. In fact, my wife keeps telling me, you know, we've got to cut back on buying things for the kids, and I says why, you know, this is the most exciting time. It's addicting, right? It's amazing. It's the most incredible experience ever. But if we don't have all of those additional kids into the future, that's going to create some challenges, not just on spending on those kids, but education. We looked at, uh, the closing of schools that are already starting to occur, not the big Ivy League schools, but the, uh, uh, more of the for-profit schools that just doesn't that many people coming through the pipeline. It starts to have an impact. And we have to be careful that we're still going to be productive and allow for a labor force that will allow this economy to grow. You can easily see some of the challenges that's going on in China as well as Japan right now. And, um, as I said in Japan, potential growth of maybe 1%. Um, it's it's going to be hard to break out of that mold. Um, and so adding to that overall, uh, population and labor force will be very critical for us to be successful in the future. Wow. Um, well, we'll leave it there. Um, like I told some of my team before this, you're one of the best kept secrets in the economics field. So good to see you. I appreciate you coming on down, uh, Visa chief economist Wayne Best. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks very much. All right. And that's it for latest episode of Opening Bid here at the Nasdaq and Times Square. Continue to hit us with all those hearts and thumbs up on YouTube and all the podcast platforms. Appreciate the feedback. We appreciate the love, and we'll talk to you soon.
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
This T-Mobile free phone offer may be its hottest deal yet
T-Mobile is one of the largest cell phone carriers in the U.S., and it's only been growing. In fact, the company reported a surge in new postpaid customers in the first quarter of 2025 and boasted impressive revenue growth. It's also been adding some exciting new technologies as well as embracing old features that customers missed. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter For example, the company recently brought back self-service SIM changes so customers can swap out their devices more easily. This is a game-changer for those who don't want to call customer service for upgrades or after a lost device. The un-carrier has also partnered with Starlink to become the first mobile phone provider to offer both a mobile and satellite network on existing devices, so you can send texts from anywhere. The company is actually offering this service in beta testing to everyone, regardless of who their phone service provider is. However, that's not all T-Mobile has been up to. It's been making some amazing phone offers lately as it adds impressive new devices to its lineup. And, now a deal that was already pretty great has just gotten even sweeter with T-Mobile's new promotional offer. Image source: Bloomberg/Getty Images While T-Mobile's phone lineup has lagged behind competitors in terms of diversity of offerings, the company's addition of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge to its offerings is sure to make many customers happy, as it's a powerhouse of a phone packed into a small device. It's ultra-light and one of the slimmest phones on the market, but it has an impressive array of features beyond its size, including a Snapdragon® 8 Elite next-gen processor, a 200 MP camera, which no other Samsung device can beat, and Galaxy AI to help with everyday tasks. Related: T-Mobile shares game-changing tech, free for anyone to try Samsung's price for the phone is reflective of all that it offers, though. The price is $1,099.99 or, if financed over time through T-Mobile, $45.85 per month for two years. While this is far from the most expensive phone on the market, it's still a big chunk of change - but not if you take advantage of T-Mobile's amazing deals, including a new offer that may be the most competitive yet. T-Mobile has already offered some impressive deals on the Samsung Galaxy S25, including providing the phone totally free to anyone who had an eligible device to trade in, regardless of the device's condition. The carrier's latest deal, though, does not even require a device to trade. In fact, if you just add a line on the Experience Beyond or the Go5G Next service plans and you agree to make monthly payments, you'll pay nothing at all for one of the hottest new phones on the market. Related: Some T-Mobile customers get massive new discount The steep discount on the new phone comes in the form of 24 monthly bill credits applied to your account, which is pretty standard for cell phone deals. Of course, if you cancel your account before you earn the 24 credits, you'll owe the full balance due on your finance agreement. Still, if you have been waiting to add a line to your T-Mobile account, especially for someone new to cell phone use without a trade-in, this deal is one that you are not going to find too often. Of course, you still also have the option to score this phone free with a trade-in if preferred. More Retail: Costco quietly plans to offer a convenient service for customersT-Mobile pulls the plug on generous offer, angering customersKellogg sounds alarm on unexpected shift in customer behavior But for those who want to keep all of their existing devices or who don't have one to trade in, it's worth jumping on this amazing new offer. Free $1,000 phones with such limited qualifying requirements don't come around too often. Related: Veteran fund manager revamps stock market forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Could Buying Visa Stock Today Set You Up for Life?
Favorable tailwinds support Visa's durable double-digit growth, which is set to continue in the years ahead. The company's massive ecosystem, consisting of cards and merchants, creates a powerful network effect. Shares aren't trading at a bargain valuation, so investors must set realistic expectations. 10 stocks we like better than Visa › We all want to find that one investment that can make us huge returns. In the past, Visa (NYSE: V) has done just that. The world's dominant payments processing entity has produced a total return of 2,880% since its initial public offering (IPO) in 2008. This means that had you been able to make a $10,000 investment in this top financial stock back then, you'd be staring at $298,000 in your portfolio today. Shares now trade in record territory. And the company's market cap is at $721 billion. But if you buy today, can Visa set you up for life? It might be obvious, but finding a business that has tremendous growth potential, particularly over the long term, can lead to strong investment gains. That's not a shocker. To be clear, though, Visa doesn't fall into this category anymore. But that doesn't mean it's done growing. In fact, Visa registers durable growth, which is propelled by favorable tailwinds. The first growth driver is the ongoing war on cash, as consumers and businesses adopt digital and noncash transaction methodologies. While developed economies, like the U.S. and Canada, have less of an opportunity these days, emerging markets in Asia and Africa still have meaningful potential. Ongoing economic growth, which fuels spending, also benefits Visa. In the past 10 years, core personal consumption expenditures in the U.S. increased by 101%. Assuming the global economy continues to expand and is much larger decades from now, it's safe to say that Visa will gain. According to consensus analyst estimates, the company's revenue and earnings per share are expected to climb at compound annual rates of 10.2% and 12.6%, respectively, between fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2027. I think it's fair-minded to expect this type of pace in the years after as well. Besides durable growth, another reason for why Visa should be on every investor's watch list is because the company possesses an economic moat. It has built up a key sustainable competitive advantage that supports long-term success. Visa has an incredible network effect. There are 4.8 billion of its cards active across the world. And 150 million merchants worldwide accept these cards. Cardholders find tremendous value because of how widely accepted Visa is. And the same is true for merchants, as being plugged into the Visa network means they don't have to turn down customers and lose out on potential sales. The network effect also underscores just how difficult it would be for Visa's market position to get disrupted. Over the past decade, numerous fintech enterprises have popped up, with a focus on improving the user experience to make payments even more seamless. You would think that this trend would have a negative impact. However, Visa continues to grow its revenue, earnings, and reach. The payment platform is essential to the smooth functioning of the economy and the effortless movement of money between various stakeholders. This gives me confidence that Visa isn't going away anytime soon. Visa has produced monster returns since the IPO 17 years ago. And this is definitely an outstanding company that should be on the investing radar. But I don't believe the stock will set you up for life. To put it another way, future returns will bear little resemblance to past returns. The S&P 500 index's total return is better than Visa's in the past five years. And don't ignore valuation. The stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.5. That's expensive, without a doubt. It reflects the market's appreciation for this business. I can still understand why investors might want to dollar-cost average into Visa shares. Just don't expect to generate life-changing wealth. Before you buy stock in Visa, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Visa wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $653,702!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $870,207!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 988% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Visa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Could Buying Visa Stock Today Set You Up for Life? was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
