And that strength may soon get a boost. Visa ( NYSE:V ) and Mastercard ( NYSE:MA ), the world's two largest credit card issuing and processing companies, have recently settled a class action lawsuit that could provide consumers with an incentive to swipe their cards more often. The suit was an antitrust action against allegedly excessive card swipe fees, and the settlement may run to the tens of billions of dollars. As part of the settlement, both companies have agreed to limit the card swipe fees charged to merchants – a savings that could be passed on to customers.