Visa Inc , the world's largest credit card network, posted higher quarterly earnings on Wednesday, as consumers used their debit cards more, and the company cut expenses.

Net income rose to $536 million, or 71 cents per diluted class A share, for the second fiscal quarter ended March 31, compared with a profit of $314 million, or 39 cents per diluted share, a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis -- reflecting a normalized tax rate, restructuring and purchase amortizations -- quarterly net income was $553 million, or 73 cents per diluted class A common share.

Net operating revenue rose 13 percent to $1.6 billion, while total processed transactions -- which represent transactions processed by VisaNet -- increased 6 percent to 9.4 billion.

Adjusted operating expenses fell 5 percent to $745 million.

Visa shares were up 1 percent to $64.16 in after-hours trade, after closing up 4.6 percent on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock is up 20 percent in 2009.

(Reporting by Juan Lagorio; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)