FILE PHOTO: VISA credit cards are seen in this picture illustration taken June 9, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev/Illustration/

(Reuters) - Visa Inc's V.N quarterly profit beat analysts' estimates on Thursday, helped by growth in overall customer spending, which boosted fees for the world's largest payment processor.

The company’s shares rose 1.3% in extended trading.

On an adjusted basis, Visa earned $1.47 per share in the fourth quarter, while analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.43, according to Refinitiv data.

Visa and its smaller rival Mastercard Inc MA.N have stepped up marketing and innovation spending to keep people using cards, as customers increasingly shift to digital and mobile payments services to make transactions.

Visa’s total payments volume rose 8.7% to $2.27 trillion on a constant dollar basis, with the United States - its largest market - accounting for about 45% of the total.

Payments volume represents the dollar amount of purchases made with cards carrying Visa’s branding. The company charges a fee every time a merchant swipes a card that uses its network.

The number of transactions processed rose 13.2% to 47.82 billion.

The company's net income rose 6.3% to $3.03 billion, or $1.34 per Class A share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30. (bit.ly/32J3EDv)

Net revenue jumped 13% to $6.14 billion.