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Visa Inc. (NYSE: ) shares declined marginally despite a positive recommendation by CNBC's Jim Cramer on his Mad Money Lightning Round. The hedge fund manager turned television star favors Visa over MasterCard because of a better expense structure and more growth. Cramer also reminded investors that both Visa and MasterCard have no credit problems, while there is a tremendous conversion from paper to plastic within the United States and abroad.

Many investors fail to realize that both Visa and MasterCard are not being affected adversely by the credit crunch. Unlike American Express, the two credit card issuers do not loan money to consumers themselves. Instead, member banks lend the money and take on the credit risk. Visa and MasterCard simply provide the physical cards and process the transactions in exchange for a fee on each transaction. So, as long as the plastic trend is in tact, the two companies are making money.

Visa has seen its shares drop 17 percent off of its highs as economic turmoil has taken its toll on consumer spending, which has in turn led to a decline in Visa's U.S. credit card spending volumes. However, strength in the company's debit card use has continued to climb while both credit and debit card usage has increased overseas. And cross-border business is now the company's most profitable revenue line, according to many analysts.

Visa Inc. is a retail electronic payments network. The Company facilitates global commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses and government entities. Its primary customers are financial institutions, for which it provides processing services and payment product platforms, including platforms for consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments.

Shares of Visa dropped $0.59, or 0.79%, to $74.34 per share.

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