COMMERCE INDEX · STAGE INDEX · PRICES THROUGH
Card Network Stocks Index.
The network connects the two sides.
On a typical card transaction, the merchant’s payment provider sends an authorization request through a network to the issuer. Approval comes back. Clearing and settlement follow later; authorization itself is not the movement of the full purchase amount.
Who pays whom Networks charge for their network and related services. Interchange goes from the acquiring side to the issuing bank; it is not Visa or Mastercard revenue.
- Card networks · equal weight
- +1.86%
- Full index
- +2.91%
- QQQ
- +2.69%
- SPY
- +2.16%
Since . Ranked #8 of 10 stages. Every member is reset to an equal share each month.
01 / THE LIVE RECORD
Card networks against the market.
4 companies. All lines start at 100 on
.
Every member starts each month at 25.0%, so Visa, the largest by market value, counts the same as the smallest. That keeps one platform from deciding the stage.
02 / THE CONSTITUENTS
Who earns at this stage.
Earns from: Network & service fees. Locked at the rebalance.
| Company | Map stages | Market cap | Equal weight | Since rebalance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VVisa | Card networks | $687.6B | 25.31% | +3.1% |
| MAMastercard | Card networks | $486.4B | 25.21% | +2.7% |
| AXPAmerican Express | Card networksIssuers & credit | $206.2B | 24.58% | +0.1% |
| COFCapital One | Card networksIssuers & credit | $119.8B | 24.89% | +1.4% |
No constituents match this search.
Weights are today’s drifted weights: each name was set to its target at the Sep 30, 2026 close and has moved with its price since. Market cap is the value locked at that rebalance. “Since rebalance” uses dividend-adjusted closes.
03 / HISTORICAL CONTEXT · NOT THE LIVE RECORD
The same members, applied to earlier years.
Today’s Card networks members, rebalanced monthly from . Survivorship-biased by construction and kept separate from the live record.
| Series | Total return | Annualized | Max drawdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equal weight | +50.0% | +15.9% | -22.3% |
| QQQ | +83.3% | +24.6% | -22.8% |
| SPY | +65.7% | +20.1% | -18.8% |
Month by month · backcast returns, %, against the full index and benchmarks
| Index | Jan 24 | Feb 24 | Mar 24 | Apr 24 | May 24 | Jun 24 | Jul 24 | Aug 24 | Sep 24 | Oct 24 | Nov 24 | Dec 24 | Jan 25 | Feb 25 | Mar 25 | Apr 25 | May 25 | Jun 25 | Jul 25 | Aug 25 | Sep 25 | Oct 25 | Nov 25 | Dec 25 | Jan 26 | Feb 26 | Mar 26 | Apr 26 | May 26 | Jun 26 | Jul 26 | Aug 26 | Sep 26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commerce Index | -2.3 | 5.4 | 3.0 | -5.0 | 2.7 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 4.4 | 1.6 | 10 | -3.7 | 7.6 | -5.8 | -9.3 | -0.0 | 7.5 | 5.9 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 1.0 | -0.3 | -2.8 | 0.3 | -5.1 | -4.4 | -2.8 | 6.9 | 1.1 | -1.3 | 7.6 | 3.0 | -4.8 |
| Card networks | 5.3 | 5.2 | 3.0 | -2.6 | -0.1 | -2.0 | 6.4 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 3.8 | 12 | -2.7 | 8.8 | 0.9 | -7.4 | -0.3 | 7.1 | 3.5 | -1.7 | 5.9 | -3.4 | 2.3 | -0.2 | 5.1 | -7.0 | -6.7 | -4.5 | 5.5 | -1.5 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 2.0 | -7.4 |
| QQQ | 1.8 | 5.3 | 1.3 | -4.4 | 6.2 | 6.5 | -1.7 | 1.1 | 2.6 | -0.9 | 5.4 | 0.5 | 2.2 | -2.7 | -7.6 | 1.4 | 9.2 | 6.4 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 5.4 | 4.8 | -1.6 | -0.7 | 1.2 | -2.3 | -4.8 | 16 | 11 | -0.2 | -6.6 | 4.2 | 3.3 |
| SPY | 1.6 | 5.2 | 3.3 | -4.0 | 5.1 | 3.5 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 2.1 | -0.9 | 6.0 | -2.4 | 2.7 | -1.3 | -5.6 | -0.9 | 6.3 | 5.1 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.5 | -0.9 | -4.9 | 11 | 5.3 | -1.0 | 0.0 | 2.7 | -0.3 |
QUESTIONS
About this stage index.
Same rules as the Commerce Index: monthly rebalance, cash-neutral membership changes, dividend-adjusted closes.
What is the Card Network Stocks index?
The Card networks index is a stage of the TechBreakdowns Commerce Index. It tracks the networks that route a card authorization between banks: Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Capital One. It is equal-weighted and rebalanced monthly, so every member counts the same regardless of size.
How has the Card networks index performed?
From September 30, 2026 through October 6, 2026, the Card networks index returned +1.86%, versus +2.69% for QQQ, +2.16% for SPY and +2.91% for the full Commerce Index. It ranks #8 of 10 stages.
Why is the Card networks index equal-weighted?
Visa (V) is the largest member by market value. A cap-weight index would count its whole company value and let it dominate the stage, so every member is reset to 25.0% at each monthly rebalance instead.
How are companies chosen?
Membership follows the TechBreakdowns commerce map. Every public company the map places in Card networks is included, and changes to the map take effect at the next monthly rebalance. A company in several stages appears in each of them.
An independent, hypothetical research index, not an investable product or personalized investment advice. Levels exclude fees, taxes and trading costs. The backcast is survivorship-biased and is not a track record. Data through October 6, 2026.